


Modern Fantasy

by V_Shalyr



Series: Magical Crime Investigations [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-12-11 02:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/V_Shalyr/pseuds/V_Shalyr
Summary: Technically, it started when dark wizards arrived in Magnolia in pursuit of a 400-year-old legend. But for most of them, it started when Natsu met a strange and quiet boy in the Tenrou Coffee Shop after work on an otherwise perfectly normal evening.AU, modern setting plus fantasy elements, NatsuxZeref, JellalxErza





	1. Glimpses

Erza Scarlet looked sternly across her desk at one of her most problematic—if effective—field team captains. "Natsu, we really can't afford to keep paying for these damages. You've got to start being more careful."

The young man occupying the other chair in her office ran a hand through his wild hair and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away. At least we caught the guy, right?"

"Yes, well, we also gave him several broken ribs, serious burns, and a huge medical bill—which we have to cover."

She sighed and shuffled the papers on her desk. She hated paperwork. It was the worst thing about being in charge of this division. Just looking at it all was making her want to strangle something. On days like this, she wished fervently that she'd turned down that promotion.

It would have been nice if people outside of their division could just understand how tough it could be to deal with criminals who had magic at their disposal. It didn't matter that all of her agents were wizards. Fighting was messy in itself, and fighting wizards was naturally even more so.

"If it was up to me, I'd just let it go," she said finally. "But unfortunately, the other departments have been a bit... shocked and displeased by our incredible expenditures. They want us to at least attempt to remedy the situation."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that, as of tomorrow, every field team is getting a budget for damage expenses. Once you use up that budget, you're going to have to pay for damages out of your own pocket."

Natsu grimaced. "Seriously? We don't get paid enough as it is."

"Then hopefully, you'll start being more careful."

"Okay, okay." The Dragon Slayer shook his head and got to his feet. "Anything else?"

"You've already handed in your report?"

"Yeah."

"Then no, you're free to go."

Despite the lecture and the fact that it was Monday, Natsu left the office that evening in a pretty good mood. As far as he was concerned, it had been a successful day. The criminal he'd been sent after was safely behind bars, and nobody on his team had been seriously injured. The new budget might pose problems, but he'd never been one to worry too much about the future.

The streets of the city teemed with life. All the noises and smells had taken some getting used to when he'd first moved here two years ago, but now, it was as familiar to him as the mountains where he'd grown up. He still missed the place sometimes, but it hadn't been home since the dragon who had raised him had disappeared. No one here even believed his stories of dragons.

Well, except for his current teammate Wendy and that bastard amateur musician anyway. And no one believed their stories either.

With this somewhat sobering thought in mind, Natsu pushed open the door of the Tenrou Coffee Shop and made a beeline for a small table near the counter. The blond girl already sitting at it greeted him with a wave and a smile.

"Hey, Natsu. Thanks for coming at such short notice."

"It's no big deal. This place is pretty close to the office anyway."

He appropriated a chair and picked up one of the neatly folded paper menus sharing the napkin stand with the napkins. Overhead, various pale yellow lanterns hung from the boughs of a tree carved in sprawling tangles across the ceiling. The scent of wood mixed with the aroma of baking bread and roasting chicken, and was that apple pie? He could really do with a sandwich right about now, or maybe two sandwiches plus dessert.

"So, Lucy, what did you want to see me about? You already interviewed me about that museum break-in."

The journalist coughed. "Um, it's not really about work."

Natsu waved over a waiter to place his order then looked back at her. "Yeah?"

"You've worked with Loke before, right?" she asked.

"He's on Gray's team, but yeah, I've worked with him a few times. Why?"

"He—sort of invited me to have dinner with him the weekend after next."

"So? You going to go?"

She sighed, stirring the ice cubes in her tea with her straw. "I'm trying to ask you if you think he actually, really likes me."

"Uh..." Natsu scratched the back of his head, unused to being asked these sorts of questions. He wasn't the kind of person other people tended to consult about their love lives, and he really preferred it that way. "Well, he's certainly always flirting with you."

"He flirts with a lot of women. I never know if he's serious or not."

"Why are you telling me this? I don't know what he's thinking, and I can't read minds. Why don't you talk to Gray or something?"

Lucy fidgeted in her chair and laughed a little in embarrassment. "Actually, I was sort of wondering if you could, you know—smell if he's being sincere when he talks to me. Maybe if you get a different table at the restaurant we go to or something."

"Basically, you're asking me to spy on you two and see if he lies at all."

"You could put it that way. Please? I'll owe you one."

"...You understand that I might not be able to tell you anything that you can't figure out on your own."

"I know. I just—want a reliable opinion from someone I trust. I'd just ask one of my Celestial Spirits to help me out, but they'd all stick out a bit too much. Besides, you're a good judge of character."

Natsu hesitated. He really wanted to refuse. This was not his area of expertise.

"I'll pay for the food if you go," Lucy added. "I hear that it's a very good restaurant."

"...Okay, fine. When and where was this date of yours going to be exactly?"

"In two weeks, Saturday night around seven at the Aria."

Damn. He'd passed by that restaurant on his patrols, and it looked like the kind of place that wouldn't allow anyone wearing jeans or sneakers through the door. He hated having to dress formal, but he'd already agreed to go. Oh well, at least he'd get a good meal out of it.

Speaking of meals, the waiter arrived at that moment bearing two plates. He set both sandwiches down in front of Natsu without comment; it wasn't the first time the Dragon Slayer had visited and the entire staff knew about his formidable appetite.

Before Natsu could bite into the first sandwich, however, the front door of the coffee shop swung open and another customer stepped over the threshold. The Dragon Slayer paused, turning his head so he could watch the stranger walk over to the counter, make an order there, and then move to sit at a table in the far corner.

"Any idea who that is over there?"

Lucy shifted around in her chair to follow his gaze. "Oh, him? I don't know. I think he just recently started coming here. I see him in here now and then, but he never talks and he's always alone. Why?"

The Dragon Slayer shrugged. "He smells... strange. Old."

"But he looks like he's in his mid teens. How old could he be?"

"Don't know, but you know that museum exhibit my last case was at? It reminds me of that."

"Those relics were a couple hundred years old, Natsu."

"I know. Weird, huh?"

"I couldn't say. I don't have a Dragon Slayer's senses. For all I know, lots of people smell like museum artifacts. Although," she added, voice turning dry, "I don't think you have much room to talk about weird."

On another day, Natsu might have protested this. But today, the stranger was distracting him. It wasn't just that his scent reminded him of ancient ruins and autumn afternoons. The boy smelled like magic too, very old and very unusual magic.

It was a calm, quiet sort of scent, and Natsu found himself thinking about it long after he'd gone home.

.

A knock came at her door and Erza looked up.

"You may come in."

When she saw who it was, she smiled and some of the tension left her shoulders.

"You're off early today. Did the university reschedule your Mechanics of Magic class?"

"Actually, I had a full house. All one hundred and thirty-two students showed up, which is definitely a first this semester," the man said. "If you check your clock, I think you'll find that you've been working late."

A glance at the digital face occupying a corner of her desk told her that this was, indeed, the case.

"I'm sorry, Jellal. I should have called."

"Don't worry about it."

"It's just these recent reports." She sighed, looking back at the papers that had taken up the last hour of her time. "Members of Grimoire Heart have been seen around the city. We'd heard rumors before, but now we're sure."

The bright light in her office seemed to make the red markings on Jellal's face even more vivid when he frowned.

"Why did they come here?"

"We don't know yet, but we'll find out. So far, I'm fairly sure it has nothing to do with you, but you should probably be careful anyway."

Jellal nodded then took a seat, shunting aside a pile of folders so he could place a bag on the table. "I brought dinner. I hope pasta's all right with you?"


	2. Snacks and Stories

"Professor Fernandes?"

Jellal looked up from behind the lectern at the front of his classroom. "Yes?"

The small group of students exchanged looks and then the girl who had spoken cleared her throat.

"It's just—you see, we were studying out near the old magic research building the other day, the one that got closed down some years ago? And it looked kind of different. Like someone had been making repairs."

The navy-haired man raised his eyebrows at that. "I haven't heard of any plans to renovate the place."

The students shifted uneasily.

"Is it possible that there's still some active magic in the area that's not safe to be around? I mean, most of us live in the dorm just over the hill from the place, so we just wanted to make sure..."

Ah, so that was what this was about. Jellal had heard some of the wild stories being circulated among the student population about ghosts and curses.

"It's probably nothing," he said, giving the group a reassuring smile. "But I'll be sure to look into it. In fact, I can go check it out right now. This is my last class for today."

There were no sighs of relief, but he could see shoulders relaxing and furrowed brows smoothing out.

"Thanks, professor."

Jellal expected the visit to just be routine. He or one of the other professors in the magic department checked on the old research building every year and there was rarely anything dangerous. They were still petitioning for the proper resources to tear the place down altogether.

When he arrived that afternoon, however, something felt different. Magic had definitely been used somewhere nearby, and it had been very recent. Frowning, he braced himself and turned the handle of one of the side doors, finding it unlocked. The hinges didn't creak when he pushed it open, and he sucked in a sharp breath when the afternoon light illuminated the corridor beyond.

The place looked new.

That was bad.

He only knew one wizard who could make something like this happen in such a short amount of time.

"I thought you might show up."

Slowly, Jellal turned around. He knew the woman hadn't been there a moment ago, but he'd half expected her after seeing the inside of the building and so he wasn't surprised.

"Ultear, you're not supposed to be here."

"Is that any way to talk to an old colleague?"

"Ex-colleague."

"Oh, of course. How could I forget? You've turned over a new leaf. Your students seem to trust you. I wonder what they would think if they knew you used to be one of us."

The breeze tugged at her long, raven hair, and despite the warmth of the afternoon sun, her amused smile made him feel cold.

"Why are you here?"

"You're no fun," Ultear sighed dramatically. "I need a place to stay for now, and this place will do nicely. Don't worry, I'm not interested in any of your students. All you have to do is look the other way."

Jellal's mouth was a hard, flat line when he looked at her. "I can't do that."

"If I were you, I'd think on it before making any decisions." She shrugged, a careless little lift of the shoulders that seemed to indicate it really didn't matter either way to her. She had her ways of getting the results she wanted. That was the kind of person she'd always been.

"But in the spirit of past camaraderie, I'll let you in on a little secret," she added, leaning forward—smile teasing once more, but also edged in venom. "We're looking for someone. Someone you were very interested in—at least for awhile. You really shouldn't have left. We know so much more now than we did then. It's almost sad."

.

For a long time after returning to his office, Jellal couldn't stop thinking about her words. They had rattled him more than he'd let on, and not just the ones about their search for someone—although that part was particularly concerning.

Running a hand down his face, he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. His leather chair squeaked as he slumped into it, sliding a short distance across the pale brown tiles.

None of his colleagues here at the university knew just what he'd been doing before Erza helped him get a job here, with the possible exception of Levy McGarden. The woman had even more connections to the police than he did and great observational skills to boot. He'd be surprised if she didn't at least suspect. The time he'd spent as a dark wizard wasn't one he was proud of or particularly wanted to recount. He'd been such an idiot, thinking he could make the world a better place with wizardry. He knew now that magic couldn't make the world better like some doctor's medicinal prescriptions, but that wasn't how he had thought back then. Anger and hate were not catalysts for clear or logical thinking. In that respect, Erza had always been so much stronger than him.

He still dreamt sometimes of the strange tower where they'd both been forced to work as children. Having magical power hadn't seemed like such a great thing then, not when it was responsible for their suffering. He still marveled at how differently the two of them had turned out, considering how much they had endured together.

The thought of his girlfriend brought a smile back to his face. Right, he'd better give her a call. Or, on second thought, he should probably go visit her. This wasn't a conversation that he wanted anyone else to overhear.

Ultear had made a big mistake telling him anything. His priorities had changed a great deal in the past couple years since he'd left Grimoire Heart, and there was just no way he could keep that information secret and live with himself.

If things went wrong and he did lose this job, he could always find a different one. He was a reasonably talented individual, after all. Better to live with a clean conscience.

That in mind, he grabbed his coat and his keys, switched off the lights, and headed for the faculty parking lot.

.

Natsu groaned and plopped his head down on the table with a thud. He was so hungry. On top of having skipped lunch because of work, he'd overshot the damage budget again. That was really eating into his finances.

At this rate, he was going to have to start fishing in the bay again like he'd done when he'd first moved here—or putting in a lot more overtime.

"Are you... okay?"

It took a moment for the soft, hesitant question to register through his daydreams of food. When it finally did, Natsu lifted his head to stare across the table. He already knew what he would find; he'd been visiting the coffee shop every evening since Monday—partly to eat dinner and partly to watch this particular person. That was probably why he'd automatically sat down at this table when he'd found all the other tables occupied.

In all that time, this was the first Natsu had heard him speak. Even when he made his orders at the counter, all he did was point. Natsu was sure most of the people in the coffee shop thought the boy was mute.

"Just really hungry."

Large, dark eyes regarded him with an unreadable expression for a couple long seconds, and then the boy slid the remaining half of his sandwich across the table to him.

"You sure you don't want this?" Natsu asked, surprised.

The boy nodded.

"Well, in that case, thanks."

Another nod.

Natsu ate in silence, watching the boy return to his book. He always had a book on him, and he tended to read with a focus that discouraged interruption. Natsu rather suspected that that was the whole point. The book kept curious people at bay—or most curious people anyway. Natsu wasn't so easily deterred once he'd taken an interest in something.

Swallowing a mouthful of turkey and lettuce, Natsu spoke. "If you're in more of a talking mood today, I've been meaning to ask you a couple things."

The boy's shoulders tensed, hunching up a little. Natsu got the distinct impression that he was regretting ever having opened his mouth. Not that that was going to stop Natsu from asking his questions.

"You're a wizard, right? You smell like magic."

This seemed to give the boy pause and he slowly lowered his book to look at Natsu again.

"I... smell like magic?"

"Yeah, most wizards do."

Natsu grinned and the boy's gaze lingered on his fangs.

"You're a Dragon Slayer."

It was Natsu's turn to be somewhat taken aback. "That's right. How did you know?"

Dragon Slayer Magic was classified as a Lost Magic. Very, very few people knew anything about it.

Instead of answering, the boy asked, "You have met a real dragon?"

"I was raised by one."

"I see."

He might, but Natsu didn't. He was the first person outside of his fellow Dragon Slayers that hadn't reacted to this information with incredulity.

"You don't seem surprised."

"Why should I be surprised?"

He sounded honestly confused.

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Most people are."

The boy appeared to turn this piece of information over for a moment then nodded to himself. "I suppose that is to be expected."

If Natsu hadn't thought he was out of the ordinary before, he certainly did now.

"What about a name?" he asked finally when it became apparent that the boy wasn't going to say anything more. "You've got to have one of those, right?"

Another hesitant nod and no answer.

"Come on, it's easy. Here." Natsu held out his hand. "I'm Natsu, Natsu Dragneal."

The boy stared at the hand like he'd never seen a hand before, but eventually, he accepted it. It was such an awkward handshake that Natsu almost laughed. This guy really needed to get out more.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't like to tell people my name."

Ah, finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Why not?"

"I... It's just not a good idea."

"Huh, okay, but I still need something to call you."

Natsu leaned back in his chair and glanced around the busy shop for inspiration. There was the leafy decorations, the colorful flyers by the front door, the food of course—hmmm, the featured item this week was alphabet soup? Weird. Natsu wondered what was special about it. Hold on. Alphabet soup. Well, they were often used as aliases, right?

"Do you have a favorite letter? No? How about "Z" then?"

For some reason, the boy started violently at this suggestion. Did that mean the letter really was part of his name?

"It's the first initial of the author of the book you're reading," Natsu explained. It was also the letter N turned sideways, which just sort of amused him for no reason. "Unless you'd prefer something else?"

The boy gave him a slightly perturbed and hunted look, but eventually, he shook his head.

So it was settled.

Natsu thanked him again for the meal and left the coffee shop feeling rather accomplished. He had an additional nighttime patrol today, which was a bit of a pain, but he'd also gotten a start on satisfying his curiosity. About time really.

Natsu wondered why the boy intrigued him so much—but only briefly. He wasn't in the habit of questioning his own actions, and he saw no point in starting now. Besides, there was that scent.

.

Zeref watched the Dragon Slayer leave with mixed feelings of trepidation, anxiety, and confusion. He'd become aware of the wild-haired wizard's watchful gaze some days ago and might have moved to a different coffee shop if it weren't for how accustomed he was now to this one. He disliked change and avoided it when he could. That, and it wasn't easy to find places where neither the staff or the customers were inclined to pry. In retrospect, he should probably have expected it not to last. It never did. But he'd never been approached in quite this way.

He wasn't sure how to react.

"Will you be wanting another half sandwich?"

Zeref glanced up at the waiter and shook his head. He didn't actually need to eat. The sandwich and coffee he always got were more of a formality. He did so because people started giving him odd looks when he went too long without having been seen to eat anything. That, and even though starving didn't really hurt him, it could get quite uncomfortable.

Given the choice, he would have preferred not to live in a city at all. But as the world changed, areas of wilderness became more scarce. And it became easier for the unsavory individuals who wanted him for one reason or another to find him. He'd eventually been forced to seek refuge in densely populated settlements such as Magnolia, and especially settlements inhabited by numerous other wizards—the more the better.

A Dragon Slayer. He hadn't thought he'd ever meet one of those again.

Judging from the winged tattoo on the wizard's shoulder, he was probably in the magical crimes division of the police force.

Zeref wondered if he should stay home for awhile, or switch to a different coffee shop after all. Nothing good ever came from associating with other people—especially other wizards.


	3. Kindred

Wendy remembered the day she'd been assigned to Natsu's team, how excited she'd been to meet another Dragon Slayer and how nervous she'd been since it was her first day on the job. Later, she would learn that he too had come to the city in search of information—specifically, information on dragons. But back then, she'd so been hoping that he would have some clue as to where her beloved dragon had disappeared to. Disappointed or not, however, she did enjoy her work and life moved on.

With a sigh, Wendy swept her long, vivid blue tresses back behind her ears and looked across the street at the old warehouse. It was supposed to be abandoned, but her Dragon Slayer sense of smell told her that people had been in it very recently.

"Do you think the people that woman saw really were dark wizards?" she asked, worried. Sure, being part of a combat-based team meant she'd seen her fair share of action on that front, but she still didn't like having to actually fight full-fledged, dark wizards.

Natsu shrugged. "It's hard to say, but the chances are pretty good that they were. There aren't supposed to be any legally registered wizards in this area."

And there had been a spate of strange crimes in the district over the past fortnight. That usually indicated wizardly activity.

Moments later, two winged cats landed on the roof beside her.

"We didn't see anyone," the blue one reported. "It seems to be empty."

"Although there are definitely signs of habitation," the white one added. "I have to admit that something about the place is giving me a bad feeling."

And they had all learned to trust the white cat's bad feelings. After all, Carla had a touch of the seer's gift in her.

"Right then." Natsu stood up. "Let's go in. Happy, Carla, you two stay here and keep a lookout."

"Aye aye, sir!"

Wendy half expected to be attacked the moment Natsu kicked the door down, whatever the cats had said. It was how things often happened in this job. For once, however, the warehouse really did turn out to be deserted.

"I don't smell any illegal substances," she noted out loud.

"No," Natsu agreed, "but they were wizards all right. Look here."

Someone had been drawing things with chalk on the dusty floor. Much of it had been wiped away, but if they squinted at the powdery smudges, they could just make out what appeared to be fragments of several magic circles.

.

"Erza..."

That had been the first word out of his mouth when they'd met again after—how many years? Nine? Ten? Well, that, and "I thought you were dead." But it was her name on his lips that she tended to focus on in her memories.

In some ways, she felt that it meant a lot that he'd still recognized her. That they had still recognized each other after all that time.

"Here you go, miss."

"Thank you."

Picking up the mug of steaming tea, Erza closed her eyes and breathed in the aroma of fresh herbs. The Tenrou Coffee Shop really did serve some of the best tea around.

"Oh, Erza! I thought it was you. It's been so long."

Opening her eyes again, she looked up. "Levy, it has been awhile, hasn't it? You look well."

"You too." The bespectacled woman who had paused by her table smiled warmly back. "How is everything? I haven't seen you around the university lately. You and Jellal aren't fighting, are you?"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. Work's just been busy," Erza assured her. "I'm waiting for him right now, as a matter of fact. What about you? This place is a bit out of the way for you, isn't it?"

Levy coughed. "It is, but Gajeel said he had a show here tonight. Well, not "said" exactly. He stuffed a flyer under my office door, so I'm assuming he was hoping I'd come listen."

Erza's lips twitched. The budding relationship between Levy and her odd musician had always struck her as more than a bit like a romantic comedy routine. Or maybe a dance where both partners really wanted to dance together but always seemed to be listening to different beats. It had taken them a whole year of not-dating to admit that they were even interested in each other.

Compared to that, she and Jellal had things much simpler, although she would have preferred the comedy routine overtones to the undertones of tragedy that had followed them around for those nine—almost ten—years of believing each other dead.

"Well, have fun. Most of the teachers I know can really use a break by this time of day."

The Rune Wizard laughed. "Unfortunate, but often true. I'll see you around then."

Only moments after she had left, Jellal arrived with his arms full of books and folders.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long. It took awhile to dig up my old research notes. I brought everything I thought might be relevant."

"Looks like quite a collection."

He sighed, setting the stack down on the table and sinking into a chair. "Yes, but unfortunately, I doubt any of it will be of much help."

Erza frowned, but she wasn't looking at the notes. "You look terrible."

"I had a lot of notes."

She narrowed her eyes at him. His hair was a mess, and had he even noticed that he'd put his shirt on back to front? That was very unlike him.

"You don't just look tired. You look stressed. Was it something you found?"

"Sharp as always," he said, giving her a wan smile that only made her frown deepen.

She leaned back in her chair and leveled him with a stern gaze. "So?"

It took him so long to answer that she almost asked the question again. He accepted the cup she passed over to him with a silent thanks and drained it in two gulps.

"I think I know what—or rather who—they're looking for."

Erza froze in the motion of picking up the teapot then lowered her hand and straightened. "What?"

"I just don't understand how it's possible."

Before he could explain further what the hell he was talking about, the chimes above the shop door rang and a wild-haired young man stepped into view.

"Isn't that Natsu Dragneal?"

"It is," Erza said. She raised her eyebrows when the Slayer glanced over the shop's customers then turned around and walked out again. "I wonder what he's up to. He's always in a rush to leave the office these days."

"I was under the impression that he tends to be in a rush all the time."

She sighed and returned her attention to Jellal.

"So you were saying? What's not possible?"

Jellal took a deep breath.

"I think they're here looking for Zeref."

Silence.

Despite the warmth of the coffee shop, Erza felt suddenly cold.

"He's still alive?"

"I wish I knew."

Erza looked back at the pile of research notes. She was going to need a lot more tea.

.

Two blocks away, the lights shone in the windows of a reasonably spacious bakery. A few people wandered about its many transparent shelves, choosing from the selection of breads and pastries. On the other side of the store, there was a scattering of white plastic tables.

"Have you been trying to avoid me?"

Zeref almost jumped at the question. He hadn't been expecting to hear that voice here.

"You've been visiting the Tenrou Coffee Shop later than before," Natsu said, pulling out the chair across from him and dropping into it without waiting to be invited. "And you've been coming to this bakery a lot more since last week."

"It... disturbs me how you know this."

"Hey, I'm a Dragon Slayer and I'm around the city a lot. I'd know if you'd been somewhere a week after you left without half trying."

It occurred to Zeref that it was a very fortunate thing that none of the dark wizards who had been chasing him were Dragon Slayers. It would have made his life suddenly a whole lot more complicated, and that was saying something.

"But why do you keep seeking me out?" he asked, at a loss for how else to respond. He couldn't exactly tell him that he'd spent a couple hundred years trying not to be noticed or remembered by the people he met.

Natsu appeared to give this serious consideration. "I don't know. I guess it's partly your scent. It's hard to explain, but I kind of like it. You're also kind of strange, and I want to know why. Do I bother you?"

Zeref hesitated. He didn't know how to answer that either. Truthfully, if he thought about it,, it didn't really bother him, and the fact that it didn't troubled him. He was used to keeping everyone at arm's length. Perhaps it had just been too long since he'd been around anyone who didn't want something from him, whether it was something that he knew or some magic that he could perform. Had there ever been anyone? He couldn't actually remember anymore.

"Hey, you okay? You look kind of sad."

Zeref shook his head. He had to think about something else. Losing control of his magic these days was something he couldn't afford. It would be far too easy to track him down if he ended up in jail, not to mention that news traveled like lightning in this era with cell phones, Internet, and television.

Casting around for something less dangerous to focus on, he settled on the blue plastic tray that Natsu had set down on the table between them.

"Are you... going to eat all of that?"

Zeref had never seen so many pastries piled onto one tray. It took skill to stack that many pastries on top of one another without dropping anything.

"That's the plan."

Natsu didn't press him about his mood, for which he was grateful. Since Zeref didn't seem inclined to share more about himself, the Dragon Slayer picked up a ham and cheese pastry with one hand and flipped open a folder of reports with the other.

The dark-haired wizard tried to go back to reading his book, but he couldn't quite ignore the fact that he wasn't alone at the table. Eventually, he gave up and went back to watching Natsu sort through what appeared to be a police report while he... ate...

Zeref stared. All the pastries had disappeared. Like magic. It was... kind of amazing. The Dragon Slayer was a very well-built young man, but still... where did he put it all?

"Do you want that?" Natsu asked, gesturing at the quarter of a blueberry muffin still left on Zeref's plate. When the Black Wizard shook his head, Natsu promptly devoured that too.

"Huh, the stuff here is pretty good," Natsu decided. "But there's another bakery on Eighth Street that's even better. We order things from there a lot when people have birthdays at work."

"You work with law enforcement."

"That's right. Magical crimes division. We deal with all crimes that involve magic or wizards—illegal spells, magical artifacts, curses, dark wizards, and that sort of thing."

"You... enjoy the work?"

"Most of the time." The Dragon Slayer pulled a face at the documents in front of him. "I like fighting and busting criminals, and I'm really good at tracking people down and finding things. Not so interested in the researching and putting together clues part though."

Zeref's gaze fell to the reports in question. "Is there a problem?"

"Just some magic circles in a warehouse today. Probably dark wizards. Well, I say magic circles, but they were more like magic circles that have been chewed up and spat out in bits. We've been trying to figure out what kind of circles they were."

"Transport."

Natsu paused, looking from Zeref to the fragmented sketches then back again. "What?"

"They were transportation circles. Not a lot of people can use them, so they're uncommon. That one was probably used to move things or people from this city to another one or vice versa."

"You can tell that just from this chicken scratch?"

Zeref looked down into his coffee cup. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything.

"Thanks. You just saved me a lot of work." Natsu grinned and scribbled a note in the margins. "Hey, you should think about joining one of our research teams. Normally, combat teams like mine collaborate with one of them for cases like these, but we've been a bit overloaded lately. Erza has them all working round the clock on some big, confidential project. That, and I kind of offended them last time we worked together. Uh, I don't think they've forgiven me yet for setting fire to all those files. It was an accident, but I guess they're just really touchy about these things."

The Dragon Slayer continued to explain about their different teams and Zeref found some of his nervous tension ebbing away. Maybe... Just maybe, it was okay to admit to himself that it was kind of nice to talk to someone, or rather, to have someone talk to him.

.

Natsu wondered if Z even realized that he was smiling. It was a very small, very faint smile—hardly noticeable really—but a smile all the same, and it completely changed the air around him. He had very nice features, Natsu decided, kind of soft about the edges when he wasn't busy being tense and uncomfortable.

A small accomplishment on Natsu's part, perhaps, but still an accomplishment.

It had been a long, frustrating day, and Natsu settled down to—somewhat to his own bemusement—enjoy a strangely peaceful evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...


	4. Doubts and Invitations

"Natsu?" Wendy asked, stopping in the doorway of their main office with her hand still on the knob. "You're here early today."

And with several books on his desk, no less—books that he was actually perusing. She didn't think she'd ever seen him actually sit at his desk before. The dozen or so agents that shared this room all kept their respective workspaces in some degree of order, but Natsu's spot stayed immaculate from disuse rather than tidiness. He was always on the move and ridiculously energetic—restless, she'd venture to say.

"Morning," he greeted her, turning another page. Its black binding embossed with their division's winged seal in gold marked it as an official record of registered wizards. There were hundreds more of them in the basement archives.

"Are you looking for someone?" she asked, moving to deposit her bag at her own desk next to his.

"Ah, you could say that."

"Is it for a case?"

"Not exactly."

Natsu frowned down at the records. He had the sneaking suspicion that Z was an unregistered wizard—a dark wizard, in other words. That would explain why he was so skittish, although it wouldn't explain why he assisted Natsu with his work and spent so much time at a coffee shop frequented by law enforcement officers.

He could be wrong, of course. He didn't know Z's real name and hunting through hundreds of volumes of pictures was anything but efficient. All the same, he'd always trusted his instincts, and his instincts told him that he was probably right.

He just couldn't decide what to do about it, if anything.

He liked Z. The boy had stopped trying to avoid him, which would have been a pointless endeavor anyway, and was good company in a quiet and thoughtful sort of way. Quiet and thoughtful was a pretty good description of him actually, and he knew a lot about a lot of things. He listened to Natsu's stories about his day with a baffled fascination that the Dragon Slayer found rather amusing, and even though he didn't like to talk about his past, he had opened up enough to share some of his thoughts and snippets of things that he had seen.

It wasn't like Z was causing anyone any trouble. So it should be okay that Natsu spent almost all of his free time with him these days, right?

He hadn't been lying when he'd told the dark-haired boy that he liked his scent. Natsu found it calming, which was rare.

"Natsu? Natsu!"

Wendy was giving him a concerned look now. Pushing his doubts aside for the time being, Natsu grinned at her.

"Just checking up on a few things. Don't worry about it." He shut the record book and added it to the dozen or so on the corner of his desk. "So, what do you think that message from Erza is all about?"

.

"Gah! It bit me!"

Gray looked up from the report he was filling out. His patience had been worn to almost nothing already by a late night raid, and he was not in the mood to deal with whatever it was they had brought back from the dark wizard's hideout.

"What did?"

"This book," Elfman said, taking a step back from the pile of recovered artifacts and regarding it warily. Compared to his tall, broad-shouldered frame, the book looked incredibly unimpressive.

"Don't be such a wimp," Evergreen snapped, tilting her glasses up with one long, manicured finger. "It's just a book. How much could it hurt?"

Not exactly famous last words, but close enough.

The book opened covers suddenly lined with fangs rather than pages and lunged for the nearest muscular arm. Elfman yelped in pain and swung the arm, smashing said book against the wall until it finally let go and flopped to the ground, its pages now stained with blood.

"This thing's vicious!" he said, grabbing the jacket from his chair to temporarily staunch the bleeding. "Can't you turn it to stone for awhile so we can catalog it and figure out what to do?"

Evergreen fixed him with a cold, contemptuous look, but her hands were already moving to retrieve the first aid kit from her desk drawer. "Does it look like it has eyes to you?"

Gray groaned. "Cut it out, you guys. Here."

He got up and slammed his hands into the floor. Ice sheeted across the tiles to reach the book, wrapping it up and immobilizing it. Once the book had been properly encased in frozen water, he picked it up and put it back on the table with the other artifacts.

He had to finish this report and get to that meeting. Erza hated it when people were late, and she was an incredibly scary woman when she was angry. And sometimes when she wasn't angry.

"Loke, did Erza say anything at all about why she wants the two of us there?"

"Sorry, no. But she said about five times that it was important."

Right.

Gray blinked a few times at the words in front of him, but they failed to stop swimming in his exhausted vision. Forget this. He'd finish writing up what happened later.

.

Natsu knew the moment he and Wendy arrived in the conference room that Erza had important news. Everyone present was in her inner circle of agents, people she had personally worked with out in the field and trusted without question. It wasn't a terribly large number.

She'd also chosen a conference room with no windows.

Jellal Fernandes was present as well, hovering at the far end of the room with such a grave expression on his face that Natsu wondered if someone had died.

"All right," Erza said the moment the conference room door had been shut and locked. "I need you all to pay close attention to what we're about to say. You are aware that security has been stepped up around the city? Well, that's because the dark wizard organization Grimoire Heart has been confirmed to be in our area."

"I've heard of them," Gray said, resting his elbows on the black tabletop and leaning forward in his chair. "They're a fairly powerful group, aren't they?"

"Very."

Seated next to his field team captain, Loke pushed his tinted glasses further up on his nose and frowned. "Do we know anything about their goals?"

"We got lucky there." Erza glanced at Jellal. "Would you like to explain?"

The university professor cleared his throat. "The organization's goal as a whole has always been to obtain powerful magic and create a world run by wizards. As far as we know, this hasn't changed. As for what brings them to Magnolia... we believe that they're looking for the Black Wizard Zeref."

Zeref. They'd all heard that name before. He was only one of the most famous figures in magic history, a genius wizard who had had a hand in developing many of the world's most dangerous magical artifacts.

"Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he live hundreds of years ago?" Wendy asked.

"Yes, but we have reason to think that he might still be alive."

There was a pause in which each of them tried to digest this information and figure out where this was headed.

Erza squared her shoulders, eyes hard. "Unfortunately, we have no idea what he looks like, what kind of person he is or where he might go, but that doesn't matter. We can't let Grimoire Heart find him first. We have other agents trying to locate the organization's members, so you don't have to concern yourselves with that. Starting from today, the top priority of everyone in this room is to find Zeref."

Which was all well and good except that none of them had the first clue where or how to start.

.

The computer on her office desk hummed as Lucy clicked through the database of old news articles, searching for inspiration. Or for a distraction, she would settle for either one at the moment. Her major deadlines had just passed and she actually had a few free days coming up.

One particular day—namely tomorrow—kept creeping back into her mind and it was starting to drive her a little crazy. Levy promised to go shopping with her after this, but her friend's last class for the day had only just started.

Wait a second.

She'd been staring at the same list of articles for five minutes before what she was seeing clicked. Her brow furrowed and she began to read in earnest.

An hour and a half later, someone spoke behind her.

"Wow, I thought you'd be too anxious to work."

"Hi, Levy," she said without turning around. "I was just looking at something interesting."

"What kind of something?"

"There were break-ins at a number of museums all around the world in the past couple years."

Levy leaned over her shoulder to peer at her desktop screen, one hand resting on the back of the blond girl's swivel chair. "I wouldn't have thought that would be that unusual. I mean, museums have a lot of valuable items, especially museums with magical artifacts on display."

"Yes, but that's the thing. Nothing was stolen at any of them. And get this. All the exhibits that were broken into contained magical artifacts dated roughly four hundred years ago."

"Hmmm." The Rune Wizard made a thoughtful sound in her throat. "Jellal was looking up information from that period recently too."

"Really? Do you think this is something he and Erza would want to look into?"

"It wouldn't hurt to bring it up."

"I could mention it to Natsu this Saturday. I sort of asked him to get a table at the same restaurant and keep an eye on things. Or actually, come to think of it, I could just tell Loke. He's in the department too after all."

Levy straightened. "Natsu? I'm surprised. I mean, I know you two are good friends, but I was sure he'd refuse."

"Bribery gets you everywhere," Lucy joked.

"Ah, Lucy, did you tell Natsu...?" She bent to whisper something in Lucy's ear.

Lucy's stomach dropped. "Are you sure about that?"

"I am, unfortunately. I waitressed at the Aria for a few months when I first moved here. I left when I got the offer from the university."

The journalist groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Ugh, guess I'd better get it over with. At least I know he won't bail on me."

If there was one thing she knew about Natsu, it was that he always kept his promises.

Natsu picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Lucy, what's up?"

"Um, sorry about springing this on you, Natsu, but you'll need to bring someone with you when you come on Saturday," Lucy said quickly, intent on getting everything she had to say out in as short a time as possible. "I just found out that the Aria's the kind of restaurant people don't go to alone."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"It doesn't have to be a date or anything."

Lucy glanced at Levy, who confirmed this with a nod.

"It could be anyone really. Wendy, maybe, or even Happy."

Although management might have some minor issues with a cat sitting at their table.

"I'm pretty sure they've got plans. Wendy said something about an art gallery and Happy's taking Carla to the beach."

"Oh, come on, Natsu. Just—think about it, okay?"

Maybe she shouldn't have just hung up like that, but she was nervous enough with everything else on her plate as it was.

.

"Don't you ever get tired of eating the same thing?"

Z looked from Natsu to the sandwich the waiter had just set in front of him then back. "I never really thought about it."

"I wouldn't have thought it was something you had to think about."

"You usually eat half my sandwich," Z pointed out. "Are you tired of it?"

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Huh, I guess I'm not. Good food is good food."

There was a reason almost everyone from the department could be found at the Tenrou Coffee Shop at least once a week.

"So the food here is considered good then?"

Natsu raised his eyebrows. "Isn't that why you come here every day?"

Apparently not, since the comment surprised him. It wasn't obvious in his expression, but Natsu could tell by the way he hesitated, going still as he tried to decide how to respond. The Dragon Slayer was getting good at reading him.

"I am staying close by," Z said at last. "And the staff here leave me to myself and don't mind if I stay late."

"Those are the only criteria, huh?"

Z shrugged. "I have yet to come across a place with food that was truly terrible."

Natsu chuckled. "That's a good thing. If you want really bad food—well, if you can even call it food—you should try flying fish. They serve them at the park by the museum sometimes."

"Why do people buy them if they are so bad?"

"Usually it's because they've never had them before."

And most of them never had it again.

"Hey, how do you know about Slayer magic anyway?"

"You are not the first Dragon Slayer I have ever met."

"Really?" Now that was intriguing. "Other than me, I only know of two other Dragon Slayers, and they're both here in Magnolia."

"There are three Dragon Slayers in this city?"

"That's right. Guess that means you weren't talking about either of them then. I didn't know there were any other Dragon Slayers around."

"...It was a long time ago."

"How long ago are we talking here?"

"Very long."

He was getting uncomfortable again, so Natsu let the matter drop. Somehow, he had the feeling Z wasn't just talking about a handful of years. He didn't know how old Z was—he was good at dodging that question—but he probably wasn't as young as he looked.

Mentally, Natsu added his age to the list of things Z didn't like to talk about. His age, his past, what kind of wizard he was... Damn, he probably was a dark wizard, wasn't he? Just not quite like any dark wizard Natsu had ever met or heard of. Natsu wondered what he was running from. Whatever it was, it didn't appear to be law enforcement, and Natsu hoped that was a good sign.

"What can I get for you today?"

The Dragon Slayer glanced from the sandwich in front of Z to the waiter. "Pasta, the one with chicken. And can you get me an extra plate?"

"Sure, no problem. It'll be out in just a minute."

"Thanks."

"An extra plate?" Z asked when the waiter had gone. He never spoke when anyone else was around., most likely afraid—and rightly so—that it would encourage people to approach him.

Natsu grinned. "So you can try some, obviously."

.

The kitchen staff had gone ahead and separated the pasta into two plates for them. Just because Zeref didn't speak with them didn't mean they didn't notice what was going on. As soon as both plates were on the table, Natsu pushed one over to him.

"Here. This one's really popular. A friend of mine gets it all the time."

"But I—"

"Just try it. It's good."

The ringing of Natsu's cell phone put an end to any further protests. Zeref inspected the pasta with some curiosity while Natsu answered the call. Clearly, he needed to learn more about food. It was a much more complicated feature in people's lives than he had thought.

Natsu seemed a bit annoyed with the person on the other end of the line. A few words were exchanged and then he pulled the phone away from his ear, glaring at it in disbelief.

"She hung up on me."

Then something else seemed to occur to him and he fixed Z with a speculative look.

"Hey, you busy this weekend?"


	5. Revelations

There were flowers in a clear glass vase on the left side of the table. There were white ones and red ones, and that was about all Zeref knew about flowers. He stared at them, wondering how he had let himself be talked into this. Around them, the Aria was filled with the murmur of conversation, muted by the thick carpet and careful architecture.

"So you don't have a car or anything either, huh?"

Zeref shook his head. He had no need of one. It wasn't like he was ever in a hurry to get anywhere, and he couldn't say he felt like spending the effort to learn how to drive one anyway.

Natsu made a face. "I hate cars and boats and tings. They always make me sick. If there is a hell, I think it would be like being on a boat."

The corners of the Black Wizard's mouth turned upward in amusement, and he stopped thinking about how terrible an idea this whole thing was.

"Motion sickness sounds very inconvenient."

"That's putting it mildly. My own two feet are good enough for getting me where I need to go. Then there's my teammate Wendy. She's a Dragon Slayer too, and she can cast this spell to counter motion sickness. Too bad it's temporary. What about you? I can't picture you on public transit."

Zeref cringed at the thought of being packed together with so many people.

"I did take a train once." He'd almost had a panic attack and caused a serious railway accident. "I got off after two stops. Now I just walk."

Besides, there was nowhere to run on a train if he had to get away. He couldn't allow himself to be cornered by dark wizards in such a crowded and enclosed space.

Natsu ordered for the both of them.

When the waitress finally left, Zeref asked, "Why did you say we were here again?"

"To watch out for a friend of mine. And to see if the food here is really as good as everyone says."

"Food seems very important to you."

"Of course. Everyone's got to eat, right?"

Zeref thought about this then nodded. Yes, most people had to eat.

.

The interior of the restaurant was every bit as elegant as Lucy had envisioned, and she was glad she'd asked Levy to help her pick out a dress. Left to her own devices, she would have gone for something blue, but the rose red fabric of this gown fit in seamlessly with the night's decor. According to Levy, they changed the color schemes every other day, rotating through seven different themes.

Loke smiled, pulling her chair out for her. He'd swapped his usual green jacket for a black suit, and the light from the chandeliers above made his spiky, orange hair look almost golden.

"Impressed?"

She smiled back. "Maybe a little."

The first time they'd met, she had whacked him with her notebook. She couldn't remember exactly why anymore, but she remembered feeling both embarrassed and furious. For the longest time, she'd been the only girl he—didn't—flirt with.

When had that changed? When she'd told him why she loved being a Celestial Wizard? When she'd been kidnapped by those dark wizards and he'd stepped in? When they'd fought together in that sparring match against those other two wizards from the magical crimes department? That had been a strange incident to be sure. She'd only been there to interview Gray on an incident involving an old Ice Wizard friend of his. Come to think of it, they'd only gotten into that fight because those other wizards had belittled Celestial Magic.

"I've taken the liberty of arranging our menu for tonight," Loke said. "I know one of the chefs, and he gave us some great recommendations."

"You certainly have a lot of connections."

"So do you. You might be surprised at how many people around the city are willing to put in a good word for you. That includes me, of course. You've made a lot of friends here."

"I have. It's hard to believe that it's only been a year."

One year since she'd been offered this magazine job and moved here to Magnolia from her father's estate. One year since she'd gone to interview that movie star only to be abducted along with said movie star and then rescued by Natsu Dragneal. That had been a rough first week to be sure. So much had happened since then.

"Do you ever miss it?" her companion asked, adjusting his tinted glasses. "Your home. You don't talk about it much."

"I miss some things. To be honest, I never did get along with my dad all that well, but we've been writing to each other since I left and... he's getting better at showing that he actually cares."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"What about you?" Lucy asked, curious. "I don't think I've ever heard you say anything about your family."

He laughed a little. "Ah, yes, about that..."

The arrival of their first course interrupted him, a salad made with fresh greens—and was that shrimp? Well, this restaurant was known for its seafood.

Lucy started to comment on this, but stopped when she spotted Natsu a few tables away. She did a double take. Of course he wasn't alone; she'd asked him not to be. But she'd expected him to show up with one of their other friends, not the strange, quiet boy from the coffee shop. When had they even started hanging out together?

"Is that Natsu?" Loke asked, following the direction of her stare.

"Huh, yeah, it is. I wonder who that is he's with?"

"He's not from the department," Loke said. "I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"You don't say."

Well, Natsu had picked out the person's scent that night. Things like that mattered a lot to Dragon Slayers. Perhaps Natsu had approached him because of it?

"Lucy..."

Something in the way he said her name made her frown. It was different from his usual lighthearted and playful tone. When she looked back at him, Loke's gaze slid away from hers and she realized with a shock that he was nervous. He was never nervous.

"I wanted to give you this," he said.

As soon as she picked up the small, black box he slid across the table, he retrieved his fork and started into the salad as if to distract himself. The leather exterior was warm beneath her fingers like it had been in his pocket all day. Confused, Lucy flicked open the tiny latch, flipped up the lid, and gasped, forgetting all about Natsu and his mysterious dinner companion. Inside, a single key shone gold against the crimson lining. She'd never seen this particular key before, but she wouldn't be a very good Celestial Wizard if she didn't recognize one of the exceedingly rare Zodiac Keys.

"Where did you get this?"

He didn't answer, his mouth full of lettuce and avocado. Lucy's own salad sat untouched. She had to understand this.

"Loke..."

He set down his fork and took a sip of his wine. When he finally spoke, it was the most serious she had ever heard him.

"It's, uh, mine actually. And I wanted you to have it."

"You're... a Celestial Spirit."

Finally, his eyes met hers, and she noted with a start that he looked just a little bit different from before. When had that happened?

"Yeah," he said, although her words had been a statement rather than a question. "It's a long story."

.

Someone was watching him, and that someone wasn't Natsu. He could feel it in his bones.

For most of the evening, Natsu's casual enthusiasm had helped Zeref relax. But around the time when the chocolate cake arrived, a sudden chill crawled up his spine. His well honed paranoia kicked him hard and he set down his fork after only one bite of dessert.

"Something not sit well with you?" Natsu asked. "You look a bit ill."

Zeref took a slow, deep breath and shook his head. "I can't eat anymore."

"Well, okay, if you're sure."

Natsu would make sure they didn't have leftovers.

By the time they left the restaurant, he was certain that someone was following him. The unpleasant certainty grated on his nerves and made it difficult to concentrate. Despite the warmth of the summer night, he shivered. Fighting down the urge to glance over his shoulder, he turned to Natsu.

"I have to go."

"What's wrong? You've been acting odd. Are you in trouble or something?"

But Zeref only shook his head and took off with a quiet apology.

.

Natsu stared after his retreating back for a moment, surprised and baffled by his abrupt departure. If Z thought he was going to just let him rush off like that with no explanation, he was sorely mistaken. Natsu took off after him, tracking him easily through the chaos of the streets by his scent. Cars honked as he barreled through an intersection without waiting for the lights to change, and a few people yelled after him when Natsu elbowed past them.

He caught up with his target in an alley next to a parking garage that had been closed down for renovations, and Z wasn't alone.

"We've been looking for you."

"That doesn't matter to me. Leave me alone."

He'd never heard Z so cold before.

"I can't do that. We've worked too hard for this, given up too much. We can't stop now."

"Don't talk to me about sacrifices. You know nothing about suffering."

"You're going to come with me. This isn't a request."

Natsu wondered why he always seemed to run into people that other people wanted to abduct. Well, better interrupt before this became a rescue mission. Before he could step in, however, something changed. The dark-haired boy's aura swung abruptly from cold anger to complete panic.

Z clutched at his head like he had a sudden and major headache. He took a stumbling step back away from the stranger, choked out a hoarse "leave" then spun and ran—or tried to. He didn't make it far.

"Hey, you okay?" Concerned, Natsu abandoned the shadows and moved towards him.

The boy's eyes widened when he saw Natsu and he found the extra energy from somewhere to stand up and stagger back away from him. His back hit the concrete wall of the alley and he sat down.

"You have to go. Please. You have to get away from me."

He sounded so horrified that Natsu actually paused in his steps. "Z?"

"Hey!" the strange man from earlier hadn't left either. "Who are you? Keep out of this."

The Dragon Slayer turned to glare at him.

And then, something—happened.

A black fog unraveled from around Z, sweeping outward to encompass the entire alley. Natsu had never seen anything like it. A few paces away, the other man started choking. It was hard to make him out through the dark mist, but Natsu heard the body hit the ground.

The Dragon Slayer felt fine though. What in the world was going on here?

When the magic finally cleared up, Z stared at him for a moment in surprise, and then abruptly, tears welled in the corners of his eyes. "You're alive. That's good."

The other man was dead. Z looked at the body with a mixture of pain and resignation. "I'm sorry. I did warn you."

Alarmed shouts could be heard from the buildings on the other side of the street. Natsu really, really wanted to know what the hell had just happened, but the dead man probably wasn't working alone and someone might be calling the police right at that moment. This wasn't the place to figure things out. Reaching down, he grabbed Z's arm to haul him to his feet.

"Come on."

.

One big advantage of being a Dragon Slayer was the ability to steer clear of unwanted attention when necessary. Natsu took them along little used roads and back alleys, senses alert for anyone who might chance to pass their way. They made it to his second-floor apartment without incident and he shut the front door behind them with some relief. He directed Z to the couch then set about making coffee in the small corner kitchen. It looked like it was going to be a long night.

"You're not hurt, are you? I don't smell blood."

Z shook his head no, not taking his eyes off Natsu. He'd been giving the Dragon Slayer a rather odd look ever since... whatever it was had happened back there.

The coffeemaker gurgled and steamed, sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet. Neither of them spoke again until Natsu pressed a hot mug into his hands.

"What kind of Dragon Slayer did you say you were?" he asked, making no move to take a drink.

"I don't think I ever told you. Since you ask, I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer."

"I see. In that case, could you do something for me?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Kill me."

Natsu choked on his coffee and hurriedly set his own mug down on the low, wooden table. "The hell? What kind of request is that?"

"I can't do it myself. My magic won't let me."

"Well, good for it."

"You don't understand."

"You're right. I don't." Natsu caught his gaze and held it. "You're going to tell me who you are and why the hell those people were after you. Start talking."

Zeref looked into his fierce glare and then down at the brown liquid in his cup. Well, it wasn't like he had anything to lose.


	6. Hunted

For the first time in his life, Natsu wasn't sure what he should do. He stood with his arms crossed, regarding his... his what? His friend? His recent obsession?

Well, whatever else Zeref was to him, he was currently Natsu's problem.

The Dragon Slayer sighed. Who'd have thought? All that trouble at work searching for the Black Wizard, and it turned out he'd been eating dinner with him every evening. He knew Zeref had been the cause of quite a lot of turmoil in the past, but he couldn't bring himself to dislike him. He couldn't quite match up the quiet, withdrawn boy he'd come to know who shared his food with him, helped with his cases, and listened to him rant about work with the infamous Black Wizard mentioned in history textbooks as a creator of demons. Sure, he was a bit gloomy sometimes, but Natsu didn't think he was evil, or at least not anymore. Kind of sad and very lonely, but not evil.

Evil was treating people like things. Evil was being wrapped up in one's own head and not caring how other people felt or what happened to them. It was causing other people pain and feeling no guilt.

It wasn't worrying about other people's safety, warning off your enemies, and apologizing to the dead.

As part of the police force, he should probably let Erza know that he'd found the person that the dark wizards were searching for. But just as Natsu Dragneal, he wasn't sure he wanted his colleagues to know that yet. He didn't want Z to be locked up, and he most certainly didn't want Grimoire Heart to get their hands on him.

"You're making my life very complicated."

Zeref looked down. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Natsu snapped, then forced himself to lower his voice when the other wizard flinched. "Ah, damn it all. You've eluded these kinds of people for hundreds of years, right? How did they catch up to you? From what I understand, they knew you were here long before tonight."

"They've gotten very good at tracking me. They must have someone who can trace my magical signature."

Natsu thought of the museum break-ins. Nothing had been taken, but certain artifacts had been disturbed. He hadn't thought too much of it at the time, but it was very likely that said artifacts had had connections to the Black Wizard.

"It can't be that accurate though," Natsu said, thinking aloud. "Or else they should have been able to approach you the moment they arrived in Magnolia."

Right, first thing was first. Before Natsu made any decisions, he had to make sure no one had traced them to this area. No doubt the police had been called about the commotion by the parking garage and that dark wizard's companions would be wondering where he'd gone. He still couldn't quite believe that the man had just died—just like that. It didn't matter that he would have been an enemy. That wasn't the way to do things.

"Stay here," he instructed, emptying his mug and leaving it in the sink. "I'll be back in a minute."

.

Zeref sat alone in the small living room, staring into his mug without seeing anything. It felt strange to finally tell someone everything. He'd read somewhere that such an action was supposed to bring relief. He examined this proposal and decided that he wasn't sure if he agreed.

He was so tired.

He couldn't remember what it was like not to be tired. He could still hear the sounds of the city, muffled by the walls of the building and distance, and he wondered where all those people got the energy to keep on doing the things that they did. It had to be what? Midnight? Where did they get the energy to keep on living day by day in all this noise and change and chaos?

What was he doing here anyway? He didn't belong here. He didn't belong anywhere, but Natsu had told him to stay and so he did.

When he'd seen Natsu in that alleyway, he'd felt terror for the first time in centuries. The Dragon Slayer was the closest thing he'd ever had to a real friend, and he couldn't bear the thought of causing his death too.

It was sheer luck that had saved Natsu earlier. The dragon that had raised him must have cared very deeply for his adopted son and taken steps to protect him from harmful magic. The Black Wizard was immeasurably grateful.

Letting out a shaky breath, Zeref set the mug down. He had to think about something else. Natsu probably had neighbors.

.

The apartment was silent when Natsu returned from scouting out his neighborhood. Zeref had fallen asleep on the couch without turning off the lights, the coffee in his mug on the table now cold and still untouched. The day's newspapers lay on the floor where they'd slipped from his fingers. Natsu shut and locked the door quietly behind him and stood for awhile, studying him. The boy looked so worn out. It was no wonder really. Natsu could only imagine what it was like to spend hundreds of years wandering around alone and being hunted by both wizards and non-wizards alike—people who knew about him and either feared what he could do or wanted him to do something for them.

Natsu considered moving the boy to the bed in the other room, but he didn't want to wake him. So instead, he got a spare blanket from the linen closet and draped it over him.

The Dragon Slayer himself probably wasn't going to be sleeping that night. He had a lot of thinking to do.

.

Their stretch of beach was nearly deserted at this time of night. Erza tended to think of it as "theirs" even though it was a public area and didn't actually belong to anyone except perhaps the city itself. It was "their" beach because it was where they had been reunited after Jellal had quit as a dark wizard and resolved to start life over again—the right way this time.

It was Erza's turn to bring the food and drink. She'd bought a basket months ago just for these outings, a wicker one with a checkered lining like people used in movies. It sat now in its own shallow indent in the sand beside them. Neither of them were that interested in its contents today though.

"Looks like we're both turning into workaholics," she said with a sigh.

When they had first begun this weekend tradition, they had met up in the afternoon. Sometimes, they'd even needed to set up an umbrella to avoid getting sunburned. Now, they were lucky if the sky was still gray.

"I'm hoping that it's temporary," Jellal said earnestly. He valued the time that they got to spend here. He'd been so lost and angry when he thought she'd died, and it was hard not to keep sneaking looks at her out of the corners of his eyes when they were together.

Erza noticed, of course, but she pretended not to. She didn't want to embarrass him, and she knew for a fact that he suffered from some crazy notion that he didn't deserve her. Personally, Erza thought she ought to be the judge of that.

Not that she hadn't been angry with him when she first found out that he'd become a dark wizard. And not just any dark wizard. He'd been leading the dark wizards trying to create the magic weapon she had been put in charge of destroying. In fact, she'd been so furious that she'd slapped him hard enough to leave a red handprint on his cheek to match his crimson tattoo. Talk about rocky beginnings.

Erza stifled a laugh at the memory of his wide-eyed speechlessness. It was most definitely not a common expression for the great Jellal Fernandes. He'd looked at her, looked down at the weapon, and then handed it to her.

"Do I want to know what's funny?" her companion asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just remembering." Her sudden bout of mirth subsided gradually and she shook her head. "Have you ever considered leaving the university and joining my department?"

"More than a few times. But I think I'm doing more good where I am."

"Mm. I heard from Makarov that that seat on the Council is still open too, if you want it."

"And leave Magnolia?" The tone of the question included his answer.

"Besides," he added, "I don't think I'd make it past the interview if I had to be completely honest with them."

"I wonder sometimes where we'd be if we'd grown up like normal children, gone to a normal school..."

"If we hadn't been wizards, you mean."

She shrugged, the motion sending a ripple through her scarlet mane. "We could have been wizards. You know, they just opened up a magic school over in the capital. And it's not like everyone with magical talent gets kidnapped by dark wizards."

"I suppose not." He wrapped an arm around her to draw her closer to him, the silky strands of her hair cool against the back of his hand. "Perhaps we would have gone on and become wizards, met at school or at a theatre..." Gotten married, eventually had a family.

"Speaking of the theatre, there's a community theatre group starting up in my neighborhood."

Performing on stage in dramatic plays was something she not-so-secretly loved.

"When?"

"They're meeting on the first Friday of next month to vote on what play to do and discuss auditions over dinner."

"I'll pick you up at six?"

"Five would be better. I know the woman organizing the event, and she likes to eat dinner early."

"Five it is then."

Good thing Jellal was a fairly decent actor himself. It could be fun.

The night breeze was a tad chilly, but her body was warm against his. Just as he was about to turn his head so he could kiss her, however, the ringing of a cell phone shattered the moment.

.

Erza looked at the cadaver with her mouth pressed into a thin, grim line.

"He doesn't have a mark on him," one of the medics explained. "No poison, no injuries—nothing. He's just dead. It's like his life was simply snuffed out. Is there really magic that can do that? Just take away someone's life—just like that?"

"Apparently so. Where did you say he was found again?"

"In an alley, western district—one of the ones with a lot of construction going on right now."

"Right. Keep me posted on anything else you find."

Erza made her way back up to the third floor where most of the meeting rooms were located in a rather dark mood. The body had been brought in only a few hours ago. How could no one have seen anything in a city with such a dense population? Okay, so maybe a few people had seen something, but it hadn't made a lot of sense. Black fog. It must have been magic, but she'd never heard of magic like that.

"Did you see him?" she asked the moment she'd reached the windowless conference room. It had become the unofficial headquarters of their current investigations.

Jellal nodded. Really, he'd more or less become an unofficial member of her staff. His past connections with Grimoire Heart made him feel responsible.

"I'm pretty sure he was one of them, although not one of the members that I knew well. Probably lower down on the food chain."

Hierarchies were often stressed in organizations like that, and those hierarchies depended largely on power.

"Do you think they had a fight?"

"Amongst themselves? It's hard to say. I suppose it's possible."

She sat down next to him with a heavy sigh and stared at the many books, scrolls, and folders spread across the conference table.

"What's going on here?" she asked. She couldn't even see the tabletop anymore, and more reports found their way into the collection every hour from her field agents.

Her companion rubbed at his tired eyes. "I wish I knew."

.

It took Zeref a moment upon waking to remember where he was. The window curtains were open and he could still see a handful of stars in the sky.

"It's four in the morning."

The Black Wizard turned his head towards the voice and found Natsu sitting in the armchair, watching him with his elbows on his knees. The lights were off and the pale illumination filtering through the windowpanes leached the color out of everything.

"I've made a decision," the Dragon Slayer continued, his voice completely serious for once. His slanted eyes were hard and uncompromising. "A few decisions actually. First off, I'm not going to kill you."

"But—"

"I'm not the kind of person who goes around killing people," Natsu snapped, not liking this topic one bit.

Zeref fell silent then closed his eyes. "I understand."

He sounded so resigned. Natsu struggled to stamp down his irritation. He couldn't help feeling a bit angry at how little Zeref valued his own life.

"You can stay here until we figure out what to do," he said instead. "In fact, it's probably better if you don't go out—at least for a few days. It seems like everyone in the city is looking for you. One thing though."

And here, Natsu glared at him. "I don't want to hear any more about dying or me killing you. That kind of thing never solves anything, and it's definitely not the kind of person I want to be. You told me that you learned that life is precious. Well, that includes yours. While you're alive, you can still do some good, but if you're dead, that's it. I know you've got problems with your magic and dark wizards and everything, but we're going to figure something out, okay? That's a promise."

For a long time, Zeref didn't say anything. When he finally did, it was to utter a single quiet, lost sort of "Why?"

Natsu's expression softened. "I don't know. But I'll tell you when I figure it out."


	7. In Hiding

It turned out that Z was in the record books after all. Natsu had just been looking in the wrong time period.

He stared down at the little black and white picture with the name printed neatly underneath. It seemed Z had even worked for the government for awhile way back. The image was so sketchy that it was doubtful he would have recognized him anyway. At the time, cameras hadn't been invented yet. It wasn't the oldest record book in their collection, but it was very close to it.

Natsu wondered if anyone even realized that Zeref's picture could be found in their archives. Probably not, or someone would have mentioned it. A bad picture was better than no picture when you were trying to find someone.

Carefully, Natsu shut the book and slid it back onto the shelf. The cleaning staff made sure to keep the place free of dust, but even so, the books on these particular shelves managed to feel forgotten. It wasn't like registration records made for enjoyable reading. Several decades had probably gone by since the last time anyone had had any reason to browse them.

Standing alone in the silent and slightly stuffy archives beneath Magnolia's main police station, he wondered how the hell he was going to make this all work.

.

Zeref wandered around the small apartment, feeling... well, mostly bewildered and a bit anxious.

Up until this point, he had been staying at a large hotel where there were numerous staff members and guests to take the attention off of him. He'd accumulated a decent amount of funds with his work in the past, and now and then, he picked up jobs in the cities that he stopped in—usually jobs where he didn't have to interact much with other people.

Natsu's apartment wasn't nearly as lavish, but it felt much more lived in. A scattering of photographs had been taped to one wall, and a somewhat badly made but still impressive pottery dragon towered in one corner—being used as a makeshift coat rack. Zeref excavated a half written report and some old newspapers from beneath a collection of snacks. Snacks seemed to be the main feature of the apartment, which made Zeref want to smile. Somehow, it didn't surprise him.

He read all the newspapers from cover to cover then skimmed through all the advertisements and magazines piled haphazardly in a cardboard box by the door. Natsu apparently wasn't an avid reader, but Zeref did manage to find half a dozen books.

Maybe he could get Natsu to go to the library for him and borrow some things. In the meantime, one of those books turned out to be a cookbook. He figured it was as good a distraction as any.

.

"You cook?"

Zeref looked up from the stew bubbling away in the stainless steel pot. Natsu deposited several bags of groceries on the floor by the fridge. They couldn't exactly eat out at the moment.

"I was looking at your books. There was a cookbook and I thought I might as well try something."

"I bought that when I first moved here," Natsu said, moving to look over his shoulder at his creation. "Before that, I mostly lived outdoors, so all my cooking was done over a campfire. Well, that or with magic."

"This is the first time I have ever cooked anything," Zeref said, using the ladle to stir the contents of the pot and make sure nothing stuck to the bottom. "I do not actually need to eat."

"Is it done yet?"

"Five more minutes, according to the recipe."

"Can't wait to try it."

Natsu went back to the groceries and set about putting everything away.

"Hey, I brought you some books too. They're in the black bag by the couch. Don't know if you've read them before or not. I just got a list of recommendations from the librarian."

Zeref paused, startled by this echo of his own earlier thoughts.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, well, you're always reading, and it's pretty boring being stuck here for god only knows how many days. The dark wizards have been kind of quiet, but Erza's got all of us scouring the city for anything suspicious."

Zeref sighed, watching the steam rise from the stew.

"I can't hide here forever, Natsu. Sooner or later, someone will find me."

"I know."

The Dragon Slayer didn't elaborate, and Zeref didn't know what else to say. Well, it wasn't like staying here or leaving now would make much of a difference.

The oven timer beeped. Retrieving two bowls from one of the cupboards, Zeref ladled the stew into them and set them on the table. Natsu wasted no time digging in.

"Jeez, your first attempt is so much better than my half a dozen that it's sad. I can do a mean barbeque though. We should go down to the beach sometime and I'll make some for us."

When his companion didn't respond, Natsu lowered his spoon and looked across at him. Funny how many of their conversations took place over dishes and dining tables.

"Hey, stop worrying about it, okay? I told you, we'll figure something out."

"You'll get in trouble for hiding me."

"I'll deal with it."

"What if something goes wrong?"

"What if it doesn't?"

Zeref started to protest, hesitated, then said instead, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Dark eyes studied Natsu's face for awhile longer then dropped to his own bowl of stew. Finally, slowly, he began to eat.

.

The pair settled into an easy routine. In the morning, Natsu brought breakfast back from a nearby cafe along with a copy of the day's news. They'd eat together before the Dragon Slayer headed off to work. Zeref would spend most of the day reading the last batch of books from the library, and then make dinner at around seven. Natsu would be home by eight, and they'd eat and talk until late into the night.

Reluctant though Z still was to talk about his past, now that he had nothing to hide, he gradually began to share more about himself, the things that he had done and seen. The Fire Wizard was especially interested in what he knew about dragons and Dragon Slayers. Firsthand knowledge of these was nearly unheard of in the modern era.

Natsu insisted that Z stay in the bedroom while he took the couch, since if people did barge into his apartment, he didn't want Z to be one of the first things they saw.

The only time Zeref left the apartment was to accompany Natsu to the hotel so they could pick up the few belongings that he had.

If it wasn't for the tension that pervaded Magnolia's streets courtesy of the strange, seemingly causeless death and the heightened security, life would have been quite peaceful. But as it was, that peace existed on borrowed time.

.

"That must be how they managed to follow him here. We might be able to track him in the same way," Jellal was saying when Natsu entered the conference room. "If these dark wizards can pinpoint his magical signature using the items from that exhibit, I see no reason why we can't do the same."

That sounded problematic.

Slipping into the chair next to Wendy, Natsu asked quietly, "What are they talking about?"

Wendy twirled a lock of her long, navy hair around her fingers. "Lucy noticed some things about the artifacts in several of the museums that have been broken into in the last couple years—you know, the times when nothing was stolen? It seems that all those relics were suspected to have been created by the Black Wizard."

"Were they?"

She shrugged. "Maybe not all of them, but at least one or two from our own museum are. And everyone's magic has its own unique signature like a magical fingerprint, so we might be able to locate Zeref that way."

This... drastically cut down on Natsu's thinking time. If they tracked Zeref to Natsu's apartment, many difficult questions would be asked and they would both be in serious trouble. Then again, the Black Wizard couldn't stay hidden in the apartment indefinitely. Sooner or later, Natsu would have to introduce him to his colleagues if he wanted their cooperation, so maybe this wasn't a bad development.

"Lucy has a meeting with the curator later this afternoon," Loke spoke up. "I could go with her and take another look at those artifacts. Maybe even borrow one, if he's willing."

"Hmmm."

Erza considered this then nodded slowly. But before she could say anything, Natsu cleared his throat.

"You guys, there's someone I want you all to meet tomorrow."

"I don't think this is the time, Natsu," Erza started, but the Dragon Slayer stopped her. When he looked this serious, she knew it had to be important.

"Trust me, I'm pretty sure you'll want to meet this person."

Granted, Natsu was equally sure that this person did not want to meet them.

"But you all have to promise me that you'll hear us out and not—I don't know, attack him or anything, all right?"


	8. Meetings and Plans

Zeref looked up at the MCI division headquarters with about as much enthusiasm as a statue. It was an imposing looking building, four floors above ground and two basement levels, all steel, glass, and concrete reinforced with layers of spell work. It wasn't ugly as buildings went, but not much effort had been put into making it aesthetically pleasing either. It was a place for work, and that was what it looked like.

"There are a couple practice arenas in the back too," Natsu said, "with lots of empty space so we can practice our magic without putting anyone in danger. If you hang around for awhile, you'll be able to watch some sparring matches there."

Zeref didn't really want to watch sparring matches between wizards he didn't know. He wanted to go back to hiding in Natsu's apartment. He wanted to just leave Magnolia and deal with the consequences.

Instead, he followed Natsu through the doors and tried not to imagine what lay ahead.

The evening before, Natsu had returned home with a grimly determined expression on his face.

"You're coming with me to the office tomorrow. I'm going to introduce you to my friends. I think it would be easier if we had their help."

Easier to do what exactly, Natsu hadn't been clear, but Zeref hadn't needed him to be. If he was honest with himself, and he generally was, he had half expected such an outcome. It wasn't like they had had that many choices to begin with.

"It'll be all right," Natsu assured him, slowing his pace so he could walk beside him. "I've been through a lot with these people, and I trust them. I'm sure they'll understand once we've explained a few things."

Zeref wasn't so sure. In his experience, people—and especially people with beliefs—weren't so good at understanding.

.

"Is there a reason you're already dressed for battle?" Jellal asked when Erza opened the passenger side door of his car clad in full body armor.

On the other side of the street, a little boy tugged at his mother's hand and pointed excitedly.

"I have a strange feeling about today," Erza said, fastening her seatbelt with some difficulty. "Wearing this calms my nerves. You didn't have to give me a ride. I only live a block from the office."

"That's all right. I wanted to come in with you anyway."

Because to be honest, Jellal had a strange feeling about the day too.

"Don't you have any classes today?"

"Not until noon."

Erza nodded and fell silent as the black car pulled away from the sidewalk to join the morning traffic.

They arrived in the meeting room upon a rather peculiar scene. Natsu was already present, hovering rather protectively in front of a boy who looked to be in his mid teens. He stood a little shorter than Natsu and had a slender frame that made him look almost fragile, and like he needed a few square meals and more exercise. His dark, unruly hair made his pale complexion seem even paler, but all of this was normal compared to his eyes. They were large and dark and felt like they had seen everything, old eyes that belonged on the face of someone many more years this boy's senior.

He stared at Erza when she stepped through the door, or more precisely, at her choice of attire. It was very impressive and rather dangerous looking, and the kind of thing it was hard for someone who felt threatened to stop noticing.

Natsu waited until the door was shut before clearing his throat.

"Right, so this is a friend of mine. I met him awhile ago and he's sort of been staying with me for the last week or two. I call him Z, but that's not his actual name."

He paused.

They waited.

"Ah, you know the wizard we've all been looking for? He's, er, sort of him."

It took everyone present a couple seconds to figure out what Natsu was hinting at, and then the silence of confused cogitation turned into that of shock.

Jellal asked the question on all of their minds. "You are Zeref?"

The boy hesitated then nodded.

Erza took a step forward and Zeref immediately took a step back, looking literally ill with apprehension.

"Please, don't come any closer. I don't want to harm you."

Erza halted and raised her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, about that..."

It was a bizarre situation to be sure. Lack of control was a serious, serious problem when your magic was as dangerous as Zeref's. At least they now knew what had happened to lead to the stiff downstairs. Frankly, Jellal wasn't sure what to make of it all. He'd spent a good many years of his life studying the Black Wizard, and this... this pale, somewhat depressed-looking boy who surreptitiously maneuvered to keep Natsu between himself and the rest of them hadn't been what he had expected.

Erza's expression was unreadable. "And what exactly did you want us to do about all this?"

Natsu paused before answering, perhaps not having thought quite this far ahead. "Nothing, I guess. I mean, I just wanted to let you all know that he's staying with me so he doesn't have to stay locked up in my apartment. You've already said that we won't let the dark wizards get him. He won't be any trouble, promise."

Strangely enough, this was easy to believe. Zeref didn't look like he wanted to cause anyone any trouble. If trouble had been his intention, he could have done more than enough by now with the kind of magic he had. Besides, Natsu tended to have good instincts when it came to people.

"Fine," Erza said after a moment's consideration. "Keep us posted."

She and Jellal exchanged looks while the rest of the room burst into frenzied argument. They might be able to make use of this situation. They now knew where Zeref was, and they also knew that Grimoire Heart would be coming after him. If they played their cards right, they could probably catch several quite high ranking members this way.

Several of the wizards approached Zeref but Natsu blocked their way with a scowl.

"Hey, back off. Can't you tell that you're freaking him out? I only brought him in so he could meet you all and I could explain things properly. We skipped breakfast to make it here so early, so we're heading out to lunch now."

Declaration made, he grabbed Zeref by the shoulders and steered him out of the conference room and down the hall. They wouldn't be back for the rest of the day, but that was all right. Natsu's job from now on would basically be to guard his newfound friend.

And the rest of them would have time to figure out their next set of moves.

"It's Friday," Jellal said. "Did you still want to go to that community group meeting?"

.

"I think that went rather well," Natsu said when they were finally both back on the street.

Zeref didn't respond, still somewhat dazed by the pace of the morning's events. For decades, his life had been a slow, changeless march of days, and now suddenly, everything seemed to be shifting. He'd expected more questions, expected more arguments and more... Well, more something.

"Hey, we're all reasonable people here," Natsu said, guessing at his thoughts. "It's to Erza's advantage that you stay with me. And it's to everyone's advantage that you stay calm, aren't put under a lot of stress, and don't get captured by dark wizards." 

That was true. And it wasn't like he had anywhere else he had to be or anywhere he especially wanted to go.

Zeref sighed, a soft little sound that made Natsu stop walking and turn to look at him.

"You could be a bit happier about this, you know."

"What's the point? Eventually, everything will return to the way it was. This is not the first time dark wizards have tried to corner me, and it won't be the last."

Although it was the closest anyone had ever gotten to succeeding.

"And eventually, I'll have to leave this city and find somewhere else to stay until it's time to move on again."

"You've really got to work on not being so depressing," Natsu said. "Come on, I'll show you the first restaurant I ever ate at here. You can tell me about when you first got to Magnolia. And stop thinking so much about leaving and all that crap. We've got enough to deal with at the moment."

.

Jellal had to admit that the turnout amazed him. The small diner was jam-packed with excited people. Aspiring actors and actresses were a given, but there were also writers, artists, musicians, and people just looking for something to do on the weekends that didn't involve a computer or a television set.

"Any idea what kind of play you want to be in?" he asked, flipping through the packet of papers he'd been handed at the door. "It looks like they want to write it from scratch."

"Hmmm."

Erza tapped her chin with the back of her pen then wrote something down on one of the blank index cards they'd been given. Jellal turned his head to try and see what she'd written, but she dropped it into the box on their table before he could make anything out. He didn't really have anything to write on his own card. All he wanted from the play was not to be the villain. They'd taken part in a handful of amateur productions around the city, and he'd almost always been cast as the villain for reasons unknown to him. In fact, he kind of—sort of—wanted to play the hero for once.

"How about something with wizards and princesses?" a new voice asked. Levy grinned when they looked up at her and waved. "I forgot you lived around here. Mind if we join your table?"

"There's plenty of room," Erza said. "So who's we?"

"Gajeel's running a little late since he's coming from a coffee shop across town. We've been asked to do some original music for the show," Levy explained, face bright with enthusiasm. "I'll be writing the lyrics and Gajeel will be performing along with a few other musicians. As long as we do a good job, it should be great for his career."

"It sounds like you're both working hard," Jellal said. "He's lucky to have your support."

"Yes, well, I have to admit that I like writing songs," Levy said. "It's a lot of fun getting to hear someone sing something you wrote. And no offense to Gajeel, but I think I'm better at it than he is."

"His recent songs have certainly been better than his old ones," Erza observed. "I look forward to working together."

The Rune Wizard laughed. "Same here. So, any requests?"

"It depends on what story they end up deciding on."

Jellal leaned back in his chair and listened to the two women talk, regarding his blank index card with a thoughtful tilt to his brow. For at least the rest of this evening, he wasn't going to think about dark wizards or Zeref or what they ought to be doing to prepare for the inevitable. Right now, he just wanted to make sure that this production was one to remember.


	9. Target

Just because they were all waiting with baited breath for Grimoire Heart to do something didn't mean that the rest of the city waited with them. Life moved on, and they all had to move on with it.

Erza twirled before the dressing room mirrors, making the folds of the cream-colored gown billow about her.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

"You've said that about every dress so far." And this one was number five.

"That's because it's always true."

Erza sighed in exasperation. "It's nice to know you think so, but it makes your opinion rather useless. I only need one of these."

"Sorry."

The blue-haired wizard looked more amused than sorry, however, seated on one of the striped chintz chairs that the store had provided for boyfriends, husbands, and female friends with no interest in fashion. What was it people liked to say? Beauty was in the eyes of the beholder? Jellal agreed wholeheartedly.

"You're not still upset about the way they handed out the roles, are you?"

Jellal grimaced. "It was unfair. They just had us all performing the same monologue. No one asked us what part we wanted. We just got them assigned."

The corner of her mouth twitched. "YYou should be proud. Everyone was amazed by your delivery. And anyway, you did say you wanted to be the hero."

"That wasn't what I had in mind."

"Oh come on, I think you'll make a great Beast."

"Don't remind me. I'm still seriously thinking about dropping out."

"And letting someone else be my costar?"

Damn, she had him there.

"I think I'll go with the green one," Erza decided. "It's a bit more comfortable than the others, and I had to get rid of my other green one."

Oh, that's right. That other green dress. The damage from their impromptu fight with that gang had looked pretty irreparable. Pity. She'd worn that dress on their first official date. Then again, a dress was just a dress. They would always have the memories.

They were standing in the checkout line when they spotted a familiar mop of wild hair out on the street. Which meant that—yeah, there it was, slightly disheveled black hair with an odd bit sticking up like a minor case of bed-head. Natsu and his by-now familiar shadow paused partway along the sidewalk so Zeref could glance over a piece of paper—probably a map.

"I saw them on campus the other day."

"Yes," Erza said. "Apparently, Natsu dragged him to a cooking class. He's gotten it stuck in his head that he'd be good at it. That, and I suspect he's trying to help him find some new hobbies."

Jellal raised his eyebrows, still watching the pair through the shop's front windows. "The great Black Wizard Zeref baking cookies? I believe that's what the cooking class has been working on."

"You can laugh, but I tried one of those cookies, and he is very good."

"I suppose making good food ought to be easier than making demons."

"I suppose so." The humor faded from her expression. "He's been helping Natsu with his casework, and doing a good job of it too. I had to stop him from writing Natsu's reports for him though. Team leaders should do their own reports."

Even if Zeref's writing had been much easier to read. It sounded strange in her head, but he wrote—for lack of a better comparison—like a writer.

"He never argues with anyone, pretty much does what he's told, and is completely uninterested in fighting, competing, or using his own magic. He also seems to really value Natsu's opinion. Almost every wizard in research and development is itching to get their hands on him, and he spends most of his time in the office hiding from them. To be perfectly honest, he confuses me."

Jellal shook his head. "You and me both."

.

Zeref looked from the map in his hands to the many shops and office buildings around them.

"Natsu, I don't think I quite understand what it is we're looking for here."

"It's an all-you-can-eat meat hotpot restaurant. It opened pretty recently. A friend of mine saw it on patrol and drew me a map."

"I think your friend may have made a mistake. Some of this might be a map, but most of it looks," he paused and rotated the paper again so he could study the lines from a different angle, "more like a fish."

"Really?" Natsu looked over his shoulder. "Damn, you're right. Fish is his favorite food. He's a cat, by the way. You haven't met him yet."

Not that that helped them much with their search.

"So what do we do now?" Zeref asked.

"We keep on searching, of course. We're not leaving until we eat there!"

Good thing the place, when they did finally locate it on the second floor of a bustling department store, was open. Perhaps Natsu's friend hadn't been mistaken after all. The sign above its sliding glass doors shone neon blue and sported a tail and assorted fins.

It wasn't quite lunchtime yet, so there were quite a few empty tables. The waiter let them choose their own table, and then left to retrieve the soup base for their pot from the kitchen. One thing was for sure. There was a lot of meat—trays upon trays of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and even fish lined up on refrigerated shelves. It looked... quite spectacular in a rather unhealthy way... Not that there weren't vegetables too. But the vegetable section was dwarfed by the sheer amount of protein.

"You want to come with to get stuff?"

Zeref shook his head. "You go ahead. I'll just wait here."

"Anything you want me to get for you?"

"Not really."

"Well, okay. I'll just pick up a bit of everything."

Or a lot of everything. Zeref really shouldn't have been surprised anymore.

"I hope most of that is for you."

"Just eat what you can, and I'll finish off the rest."

"Are you sure it's okay for you to eat all that? I don't think it's very good for you in the long run."

"It's not like I come here every day. And anyway, my magic consumes a lot of energy."

Well, yes, Zeref could see how that might be the case. Dragon Slayer Magic could be like that, the price, perhaps, for its strength. All the same...

"Do you think they'll make us leave because you're singlehandedly cleaning out their buffet?"

"Eh, maybe. It's happened to me once before. But since you're practically not eating, maybe they'll let us be."

Zeref had had one piece of everything and was now on his third cup of water.

"And anyway, whether we get asked to leave or not, the food's already in my stomach."

He grinned and scraped the last pieces of beef from his plate into the bubbling pot.

"It seems very easy to make you happy."

Natsu shrugged. "So?"

"Most people are not."

"I repeat, so? I think it's a good thing. That's why so many people are unhappy. They focus all their energy on what they don't have and forget to care about the things they have."

Zeref thought about this then nodded. Yes, that was very true.

"And you know," Natsu added, "you don't seem like the kind of person who wants a lot of things either."

"I suppose not."

The only thing Zeref really wanted these days was to be left alone. It would have been nice to find a place in this world, to have somewhere where he could belong and be accepted, but he'd sort of given up on that in the last hundred years or so. Time had stripped away nearly all of his desires and ambitions. These days, the only thing he asked for from life was a good book and somewhere to sleep where he wouldn't be disturbed.

Human beings really didn't need many things in order to survive. Most of them just thought they did.

Zeref was incredibly tired of the deceptions that so many humans engaged in, tired of the games that people played with one another and the fronts that they put up. The world was full of facades and illusions, of lies and appearances that people valued more than the truths that lay underneath, and he was weary of all of it.

Perhaps that was why he found himself drawn to Natsu. The Dragon Slayer's blunt honesty and straightforwardness was such a relief, and it made it just—that much easier to feel... at ease. Strange. He hadn't felt at ease around another human being for... well, for centuries really, if ever.

Maybe Natsu Dragneal wasn't an especially nice person, but he was a very good person. Sometimes, Zeref thought that he badly needed to associate more with people like that. Needed reasons to stave off the hatred he sometimes felt stirring in the back of his mind when he witnessed how cruel humans could be.

"You're spacing out again," Natsu said, observing him through the steam rising from the hotpot between them. "Something on your mind?"

"I was only thinking that I'm glad to have had the chance to meet you."

"You make it sound like you're leaving or something."

"I never stay in one city for more than a few months, maybe a year at most."

For some reason, this made Natsu frown and dig back into his meal with rather more ferocity than Zeref thought was necessary. But since he didn't say anything, the Black Wizard didn't either.

.

Lounging at a table in the rooftop coffee shop across the street, the dark-haired woman had a decent view of the pair through the windows of the hotpot restaurant. Cluing Jellal in on what they were about had been a strategic move on her part, and it was bearing fruit much more quickly than she had hoped. She had figured that he and his allies would end up doing a lot of her work for her, and she'd been right—more or less. To think that it had really been this easy.

"It's boring in this city," her companion complained, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the table. "I wouldn't have come with you if I'd known you were going to be sneaking around like this."

"But it's working," she pointed out, unfazed by his attitude. "And it was your decision. You said so yourself."

He muttered something in response to that comment that she ignored. If it had been up to her, she would have gladly left him back in that other city. His wild mop of straw-like hair made him stand out enough as it was, and she preferred to handle things from the shadows, unobserved.

Still, since he was here...

"Did you do what I asked?"

"Yeah, yeah. Melody's got the details if you want them."

Ultear nodded and took a sip of the cool liquid in her glass. "Good."

It was unfortunate that they couldn't muster more manpower in this city sooner. She would have liked to wait until more of her stronger colleagues could join them, but she suspected that Jellal or one of his associates had gotten in touch with the Magic Council. At any rate, they were starting to move too, and that meant she couldn't wait.


	10. Capture

Natsu excavated himself from the rubble on the practice grounds with a burst of fire.

"I'll beat you next time, Erza, just you wait!"

The older wizard banished her battle armor with a flick of her wrist. "You're welcome to try, but that's it for today. I've got a meeting in ten minutes."

"Tomorrow then."

"We'll see."

Zeraf leaned back against the wall where he sat beside one of the arena doors. He wasn't the only person on the wooden benches, although all their other occupants had chosen spots some distance from his own. Some of them were cleaning minor injuries while others waited for their own turns out on the packed dirt floor.

The book he had brought with him lay mostly forgotten in his hands. He'd stopped reading it awhile ago in favor of watching Natsu fight. It had been some time since he had last seen a Dragon Slayer in action, and he had always found Slayer Magic rather remarkable.

Natsu certainly seemed to love his magic, and he obviously enjoyed fighting a lot. All the same, the grin had faded from his face by the time he made his way over to him.

"Is something wrong?" the Black Wizard asked, confused.

The Fire Wizard took a moment to answer. "I... kind of wish you hadn't seen me lose."

"Why?"

He had also watched Natsu win half a dozen times in a row before challenging the scarlet-haired division leader.

Natsu scratched the back of his head, looking away. "I guess I just sort of want you to think that I'm awesome."

"You do not have to impress me."

The Dragon Slayer shrugged. "I know I don't have to, but maybe I want to."

Zeraf was at a loss as to how to respond to that. It would have made more sense if what Natsu wanted was to defeat him in battle. From what he had seen, the Fire Dragon Slayer obviously had a huge competitive streak. But impress him?

Standing at a window overlooking the training grounds, Jellal wondered what the two wizards were talking about.

"Spying?"

He started and turned to find Erza walking down the corridor towards him, combing her fingers through her hair to make sure everything was in order.

"I'm just trying to understand them."

He had to admit also to a certain desire to talk to the quiet, dark-haired wizard. Just how much knowledge was stored in that head of his? Jellal himself had been called a genius more than once, but his reputation paled in comparison to that of the wizard Natsu was currently dragging out of the arena.

Erza's lips quirked in amusement, and he had the feeling she knew what he was thinking. After all, he was still a researcher at heart. That was one aspect of himself that he had brought with him from his career as a dark wizard to his job as a university professor.

"If you're that curious, you should just go ahead and ask him your questions. It's creepy when you just stare at people from a distance, and god knows he seems paranoid enough as it is."

"You make it sound like I do this a lot," he protested.

She shrugged. "I'll let you think about that one. So, are you coming? You did say you wanted to take part in this meeting, didn't you? Really, with everything you've been doing around here, you might as well put yourself on the payroll."

.

The man on the screen was one that both of them knew well, although it remained to be seen if it was a fortunate thing that the Magic Council had chosen someone familiar with them to handle relations with their department.

The Rune Knight captain adjusted his glasses and regarded them grimly. "Is it true? You've found Zeraf?"

"One of my agents did anyway," Erza said. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well, Lahar."

The last time she'd seen him, his men had been carrying him into an ambulance on a stretcher with the stench of smoke in the air and sirens blaring in their ears. Now that had been some messy business.

"Well enough." His violet eyes flickered towards Jellal, but he made no comment on his presence. "Several units have already been dispatched to your city. I will be leaving later this afternoon to join them. In the meantime, we've set up a rudimentary containment field around Magnolia and its immediate surroundings that should deter people with magical powers arriving in and leaving the city. We'll take it down once this business has been concluded, of course."

"We appreciate the help."

Lahar shrugged, the motion only just visible on the computer screen. "It's our job. It would help if you could tell me more about the situation."

Erza sighed. "Unfortunately, there isn't much more to tell. We've confirmed the presence of at least one of Grimoire Heart's main leaders, but that's not to say there can't be others. It also seems like they may have coerced a number of wizards around the city to do small side jobs for them, the entire purpose of which is still unclear. They've never been very friendly with other dark wizard groups, but they are powerful and might have struck bargains in exchange for more unique talents."

"That would make sense, considering who they're after." The captain paused then added, "So the Black Wizard isn't giving you any trouble? Because we can provide more assistance if you need it."

"That won't be necessary. He's been very cooperative. Whatever he used to be like, as he is now, I don't think he's much of a threat to anyone."

Lahar frowned. "I don't know what you plan to do with him, but I feel that I should let you know. We've been given orders to take him into custody should we come across him. Of course, if we don't cross paths with him, that can't be helped..."

After the screen went dark, Jellal looked at Erza.

"Did he just...?"

Erza was just as surprised as he was. "He's changed a lot from the first time we met him. My guess is that he feels like he owes you for saving his life. If you hadn't pulled him out of that building when you did, he would very likely have died there."

"Perhaps. Or he's finally decided that he can trust our judgment."

"Now we just have to make sure that we can trust our judgment."

.

Lucy flipped through the pages of the notebook, mouthing the words quietly to herself. "These are really good, Levy. I can't wait to hear how they sound matched up to the music."

"It's exciting," Levy agreed. "But I'm also kind of nervous. He asked me to sing some of the parts."

"I thought some of those lyrics were written for two people."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure that's a good idea. I've sung with him for fun a couple times, but I've never performed before. I don't want to let anyone down."

"I'm sure you'll do great," Lucy said, offering her an encouraging smile and handing the notebook back to her. "I'll be cheering you on from the audience."

"You'll be writing the show review then?"

"Yup, it's settled. My editor's really interested in new art groups. Don't worry, I promise that I'll be nice."

The Rune Wizard laughed and picked up her lemonade glass. "I know you will."

Around them, the other customers of the Tenrou Coffee Shop chatted or didn't chat over drinks and half filled plates. Lucy took a bite of her pizza and chewed thoughtfully. It was a new item and had met with general approval from her colleagues at the magazine. The crust was stuffed with cheese and the layer of cheese on top felt half an inch thick. She'd forgotten how much they loved cheese.

"So how have you been?" Levy asked, switching gears. The notebook vanished into her bag.

The two women had met because of that notebook, Lucy remembered. The journalist had the exact same one on her own bookshelf back home, bright blue with yellow edging.

"I've been all right. Busy though."

"Lending a couple helping hands to Erza's department?"

"Yeah."

As if on cue, the door of the coffee shop swung open and four familiar figures entered, making their way to an empty table near the counter.

.

Zeraf glanced around the interior of the coffee shop with a slight frown.

"Something the matter?" Natsu asked.

"Something is... different."

"You're probably sensing the new wards around here and some of the new staff," Erza said. "Well, I say new, but really, they're old staff. They just haven't been working in the shop as much lately. The woman who owns this place used to be part of our department. Her name's Mirajane, and she was a pretty formidable wizard herself before she retired due to injury. She doesn't really do much magic anymore, but she can protect her staff well enough if push comes to shove. We updated her on the situation, so she should be around here somewhere."

"I see."

That would explain the change in the aura of the place. He tried not to let it bother him. It took time for him to get used to things, and he'd grown accustomed to steering clear of other wizards.

"Don't think about it," Natsu advised, having guessed his thoughts. "So what do you want? Your usual?"

Zeraf nodded. He hadn't even picked up the menu. On another day, Natsu might have tried to get him to try something different. But as things stood, how quickly everything around them was changing seemed to trouble him enough. The Dragon Slayer supposed that when a person had seen as much as Zeraf had, witnessed as many things come and go, it was unsurprising that he would find comfort in constancy.

Natsu wondered what that meant for the future though. Would Zeraf leave Magnolia like he had all those other cities he had passed through—just passing through on his way to nowhere? Would he just keep on wandering, staying exactly as he was while the rest of the world left him even further behind?

The thought was unsettling.

"I wanted to speak with you two in regards to the Magic Council," Erza said after all their orders had been placed. "You should be aware that they know we've made contact with you."

She inclined her head towards Zeraf.

"Now, I don't believe they intend to do anything about that just yet, but they might—as soon as this dark wizard business is over. What steps they plan to take, it's hard to say, but they most likely won't like the idea of just letting you go. Especially now that it's been confirmed that you're still very much alive and well."

Natsu shifted restlessly in his chair, but didn't interrupt her.

"I don't know what you intend to do after this," she continued, "but it seems only fair to give you some time to consider your options."

Options. The Black Wizard let out a soft sigh. It never did seem like he had many of those. Like the world was determined to drive him into a corner eventually. Then again, eventually could be a long way off.

Zeraf gave half his sandwich to Natsu like he always did and listened in silence to the slightly stilted conversation. A few of the other customers stopped by to greet them before departing for the night. Gradually, the other tables emptied. The sky beyond the windows had gone from gray to black and the streetlights turned on, casting pools of yellow brilliance at regular intervals along the pavement.

Zeraf liked street lights. They were one of the few new inventions that he appreciated, an attempt to make the darkness a little less dark.

"So... You worked for the government before?"

It took Zeraf a moment to realize that Jellal had addressed him, and another moment to remember what he had been asked.

"That was... a long time ago. When humans were just beginning to really develop their own brands of magic. I'd... rather not talk about it."

"Ah, I understand. Maybe another time then."

The man looked... disappointed? Zeraf glanced at Natsu, wondering if he'd said something wrong, but the Dragon Slayer just shrugged, seemingly preoccupied with his own thoughts. Zeraf wanted to ask him what was on his mind, but he wasn't sure if he should with Erza and Jellal seated across the table from them. He struggled with the question for awhile, but before he could come to a decision, the coffee shop door opened once more.

The man and woman across from them glanced at the newcomers like they had every newcomer that evening. But unlike every other time it had happened, this time, they both tensed and stood up, sending their chairs skittering back.

Confused but wary, Natsu and Zeraf got to their feet as well.

Without a word, the one waitress still in the front of the shop began ushering the other few remaining customers out the door. As soon as they were gone, she vanished into the back without bothering to retrieve any of the dirty dishes or utensils.

"Ultear," the blue-haired man greeted coldly. "And you're not alone this time. I suppose this means you're not here to talk."

"No," the dark-haired woman agreed. "I don't really have anything more to say to you. Zancrow?"

"About time," the other dark wizard said with a toothy grin that made him look a bit mad. Black fire flickered about him, making the air shimmer with heat. "I thought I was going to die of boredom."

Natsu started forward, but both Jellal and Erza moved to block his way.

"Take Z and get out of here," Jellal said, his hands beginning to glow gold.

"What? I'm not going to run away!"

"Jellal's right," Erza cut in, already dressed in her Fire Empress armor. "This isn't about winning or losing a single battle, Natsu. Now get going. Jellal and I will handle these two."

The Dragon Slayer looked like he wanted to protest, but one look back at Zeraf changed his mind. They were right. It was more important that he got him out of there.

"Come on," he said, grabbing Zeraf's wrist and pulling him after him around the shop counter, through the kitchen, and out the back door.

"We're going to the office," Natsu said tersely. "The wards there should help."

Zeraf started to say something, but the words cut off in a gasp. His arm jerked out of Natsu's grasp, and he fell back like he'd run into an invisible wall—which was pretty much what it had felt like.

The Dragon Slayer skidded to a halt and turned around just in time to see lines of white light race across the walls and floor of the alley, tracing an oddly familiar pattern upon the bricks. A transportation circle?

"Oh no you don't!"

Natsu threw himself forward just as the magic circle blazed. Light flooded the alley for an instant, and then both of them disappeared.

Back inside the coffee shop, Jellal frowned. "Something's wrong. They're gone. I can't sense either of them anymore."

"What did you do?" Erza demanded, leveling her sword at the two dark wizards.

The glint in Ultear's eyes was distinctly triumphant. "Only an idiot would try to deal with a powerful target head on when she has other resources at her disposal. Zeraf will be at our headquarters by tomorrow morning. The Rune Knights' barrier will cause some delays, but it won't stop the transfer."

"In other words," Jellal said, "this all went according to your plan."

"That's certainly how it appears, isn't it?"

He should have known. They had let the duo leave too easily.

"Still, you miscalculated one thing," Erza said grimly.

"Oh, did I? And what's that?"

"You two won't be getting away."


	11. Labyrinth of Spaces

By the time the fighting had stopped and the two wizards hurried out into the back alley, they owed the Tenrou Coffee Shop a considerable sum in damages. Still, at least they weren't going to be chewed out by the owner, Mirajane being a former agent and very understanding.

It was also good news that it seemed unlikely their enemy had come to this city in force. Upon reflection, that had been wise of them. More people almost always meant more commotion and more problems, and all they had needed to do was come in, nab their target, and escape.

"Can we trace them?" Erza asked, searching the alley walls for any clues that might tell them where the missing pair had been sent.

Jellal crouched and ran his hand over the bricks, fingers lingering over odd, paler patches here and there. Chalk dust, perhaps? But chalk that had been dyed to a color nearly identical to the bricks.

"I doubt it. Nearly all signs of the transportation spell have already faded."

"And Natsu's our best tracker," Erza said with a sigh. "Still, those two ought to be able to handle things, right?"

"I don't know. From what we've seen and heard, Zeref's magic seems extremely unreliable."

"But he's with Natsu."

"That's true."

And immature though the Dragon Slayer could be at times, he was still one of the department's most reliable wizards, both because of his magical abilities and because of his sheer, defiant determination.

.

"Where are we?"

Natsu's voice echoed in the vast, empty hallway that seemed to stretch on forever, passing occasionally through equally empty rooms that had no doors or windows. Some of the walls stood solid and black like slabs of night while others shimmered like molten silver.

Zeref placed his hand flat against one of the dark patches and pulled it away again, looking down at his palm. "My guess would be that this is a space between places."

As a prison, there were few better choices.

"I can't believe they caught us so easily."

"I suppose it was predictable. I have always run in the past."

It was more discreet than fighting, and more effective in the long run.

Natsu didn't especially care how they had ended up here. He summoned two fistfuls of fire. "Well, we're getting out of here now."

Except that... they weren't. The Slayer's spell flared then faded without leaving so much as a scorch mark.

"The hell? What happened?"

"It looks like the walls of this place disperse and absorb magic," Zeref said, not really surprised. "I suppose they designed this place to weaken me before they will have to face me in earnest. They are probably trying to move me to somewhere outside of the city, perhaps a different settlement where they have more sway."

"That's a bit annoying. Guess breaking out of here won't be so easy."

Zeref watched the other wizard inspect the endless parade of rooms and corridors with a slight frown. He really shouldn't have gotten Natsu involved in all this. Back when the Dragon Slayer had first approached him in the coffee shop, he should have known that it was time to move on.

"Maybe they'll let you go if I agree not to fight them."

He jumped a little when Natsu's fist hit the wall next to his head. The Dragon Slayer glared down at him.

"Don't even think about it. That is not happening. I'm not giving up, and neither are you. Aren't you supposed to be a genius at magic? Stop being so damned negative and help me think of a way to get both of us out of here."

Zeref met his burning green stare and swallowed hard. There were a lot of reasons why they should try to deal diplomatically with their potential captors, but right at this moment, he couldn't come up with any of them.

"Well," he said hesitantly, taking a moment to recollect himself, "you being here was probably a miscalculation on their part. It's highly likely that they did not take your magic into account when they constructed this space."

Reassured that he was going to cooperate, Natsu relaxed and let his hand drop back to his side. "Okay, so what does that mean?"

"You are a Fire Dragon Slayer. Your magic is naturally very destructive and potentially has magic neutralizing properties. If we target the right points, you may be able to destroy this place."

"And let us out?"

"In theory. If nothing goes wrong."

The Dragon Slayer started to nod then stopped, eyes narrowing at the sudden shift in the air. "There's something else here."

Or, as it turned out, a lot of things.

.

It was to their credit that when Erza and Jellal burst into the office looking like they'd just gone a couple rounds with a poltergeist and demanded they begin a scan of the surrounding area, everyone jumped into action after only a second of surprise.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Loke asked, his fingers flying across the keyboard of his laptop. A wizard by the name of Hibiki had designed a system for tracking magical disturbances and all their computers could access it, although it wasn't the easiest program to use. Sending out actual wizards took more manpower and covered less ground but was often much more accurate, and they usually employed a combination of the two.

"Anything out of the ordinary between here and the next city over," Jellal said. "Especially anything that might be related to changes in space."

Loke hesitated for only a moment then shrugged and did as he said. Jellal didn't officially work there and he wasn't officially a superior officer, but he probably knew what he was talking about.

"Erza," Gray said, putting down his phone, "before I head out, there's something you should know. The Rune Knight guys got here about five minutes ago."

"I know," Erza said with a sigh, dropping into a swivel chair and angling one leg to keep it from skidding backwards. "We just handed a Fire Wizard over to them, and they've apparently arrested a number of other dark wizards as well. Unfortunately, they'll be combing the area as well. I really don't want them to find Natsu and Zeref before we do."

On the other hand, they would also be looking for Ultear and that girl that had helped her escape. That would help. It meant the two women wouldn't be hanging around, although that didn't stop them from returning in the future.

"It's too bad Hibiki isn't here," Loke muttered. The Archive Magic specialist was currently on loan to a different city.

"Oh, and Gray," Erza said, stopping the Ice Wizard before he could vanish out the door. "Take Wendy with you. Her nose should help."

.

The misshapen, spiderlike creatures moved easily through the shimmering sections of wall and scuttled just as easily along the ceiling as they did along the floor. They were durable and numerous, although they seemed to be attempting to capture rather than injure them, and that gave Natsu the advantage. He and Z had backed into one section of the endless maze of rooms and tunnels that had more black than silver in its walls, ceiling, and floor, limiting the number of portals through which the creatures could come.

Yet another gleaming spider reeled back from a blast of fire, its limbs breaking apart and melting back into the floor. They might not have been winning, but they were certainly succeeding at keeping the wizards busy.

"I need a bit more time to design this magic circle," Zeref said, drawing runes in violet light just above the surface of a black slab of wall. If he drew them too close to the stone-like substance, it absorbed the magic completely. But if he put just enough distance between the markings and the wall, they lingered just long enough. Despite his haste, each rune was created with flowing precision.

"I'll get you all the time you need," Natsu assured him, incinerating a spider that had gotten too close to his companion. "I could fight these bugs for days without breaking a sweat."

"Hopefully, you won't have to."

Zeref took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. He could hear Natsu's battle cries and the ensuing ruckus of combat at his back. A small part of him wanted to turn around and do something to defend himself. But most of him knew that he could trust Natsu to give him the time and peace he needed to finish this work.

Something exploded to his right and he winced but didn't turn to look.

They needed a spell that would find the weak points of this dimension, the places where its walls were thinnest, and then tear down those walls—to recreate a door for them before the entire dimension collapsed on top of them. He couldn't predict exactly what would happen, but once they set things into motion, they would have to start running very, very fast.

"Natsu, it's almost done. Hopefully, once we activate it, the magic will create a door to the outside."

"Hopefully? Why hopefully?"

"It should work in theory, but I've never done this before. And... if this space collapses before we're able to get out, I'm not sure what will happen to us."

But it probably wouldn't be anything good.

Natsu considered this for a moment. "Well, it doesn't seem like we have many choices, so let's try it."

"Um, just throw some fire at this and get ready to run."

The Dragon Slayer tossed another spider aside and turned to slam a fistful of fire into the magic circle. The lines blazed, fire running along them and racing out to trace each chain of runes.

It was like watching glass break.

Glowing cracks radiated out along the walls, picking up speed as they gained distance. Zeref's heart sank. It looked like the exit wasn't going to be as close as he had hoped.

"We've got to follow."

The urgency in his voice was punctuated by a chunk of hard, black material hitting the ground followed by a flake of something silvery.

"Come on then," Natsu said, throwing another blast of fire to clear a path. "This way."

.

Wendy closed her eyes and turned her face into the wind. The night breeze was cold, pulling at strands of her long, navy blue hair and making the leaves in the trees around them rustle. Natsu had been teaching her to track things and people by their scents, but she still didn't have much confidence in her abilities. There were so many different smells, all jumbled together and layered on top of each other, and she wasn't used to sorting through it all the way Natsu could. They were both Dragon Slayers and shared a dragon's heightened senses, but she hadn't lived as long in the wilderness as Natsu had. She'd never had to hunt for her own food or find her way home through unmarked and untamed territories.

Still, Wendy had been practicing hard, and this was important.

"Relax," Gray advised, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know much about it, but getting all tensed up probably doesn't help."

"I know. Sorry."

"Not a problem. Take your time."

There was no guarantee that Natsu or Zeref would even end up in these woods.

Gray was more concerned about keeping the Rune Knights preoccupied. It probably wouldn't be good to let them find out that they'd lost track of the Black Wizard.

.

Normally, Natsu liked marathons just fine. They'd had a department-wide race last summer, and although he hadn't won because he'd gotten into a fight with a bunch of other wizards, he'd had a lot of fun.

This was different.

The corridor broke apart around them like a badly built building in an earthquake, but the spidery constructs appeared unaware of this and didn't allow that to deter their attacks. It felt very much like running through a battlefield, and they couldn't afford to stop and fight them all. The ground rumbled and shook beneath them, lurching every now and then so violently that it almost threw them off their feet. Even though the Dragon Slayer didn't waste time looking back, he swore he could feel the rapidly expanding void reaching for them, making the hairs rise on the back of his neck. Before them, the pathway tumbled and twisted, stretching onward in an infinite series of chambers and hallways. Natsu thought he could make out a tiny square of light up ahead, but it seemed so far away—no bigger than a postage stamp.

And Zeref was starting to fall behind.

Natsu paused to let his companion catch up and then scooped him up into his arms and continued running. He thought he heard a squeak of surprise, but he didn't have time for objections so he just tightened his grip and ran faster. Zeref was surprisingly light. Or perhaps not that surprising considering how little he ate.

Over Natsu's shoulder, Zeref had a dreadfully good view of the black and silver walls of the inter-dimensional maze shattering and disintegrating into darkness piece by jagged piece. He didn't want to think about what might happen to them if the disintegrating space caught up with them. He wrapped his arms around the Dragon Slayer's neck and tried not to think about how warm he was. He'd never imagined that he might enjoy being held this way. Such a situation had never come up.

"Natsu, it's getting closer."

"I know," the Dragon Slayer growled, putting on an extra spurt of speed. The white square of light was just ahead of them. He threw them both forward and they tumbled out through the light onto drifts of fallen leaves and dew-drenched grass, ending up in a tangled heap of limbs under an old maple where they just lay for a while, trying to catch their breath. It took a moment for Natsu to notice that he had the Black Wizard effectively pinned underneath him, Sharp, green eyes still fierce with the gleam of victory stared down into wide, black ones full of relief and bewilderment and something else.

And then Natsu leaned down and kissed him.

Zeref froze in complete and utter shock. Natsu, too, hesitated then pulled back, startled by his own actions. Still, he couldn't bring himself to move away.

"You're... not hurt, are you?"

Zeref shook his head. It felt strange, having someone actually care about his wellbeing.

"That's good."

"What about you?"

"A few scratches, but nothing serious."

They stood, brushing leaves and bits of grass from their clothes, and surveyed their surroundings, noting the trees and the faint outline of rooftops against a sky that was just beginning to grow light.

"Do you know where we are?" Zeref asked.

"Yeah, I think so. It's going to be a bit of a walk, but we should make it back in time for a few hours of sleep."

Which was good because they both seriously needed the rest. If they were able to rest anyway.

They hadn't gone far when Natsu picked up several familiar scents. Moments later, Wendy's voice rang out over the murmur of the forest.

"Gray! I found them!"

When the Ice Wizard saw them, both of his eyebrows shot up to meet his hairline. "You two look like hell."

"What do you expect? We've only been fighting giant, monster spiders all evening and barely avoided being trapped forever in the ruins of an inter-dimensional maze."

"Right..." Gray shook his head. "I didn't really get any of what you just said, but we're glad you're both all right. The Magic Council's people are here though, and quite a few of them are out here in the forest. You two should head back, maybe go home or something—stay out of their way until Erza gives the okay."

"Yeah, sure. Tell her to call me."

Wendy bit her lower lip. "Gray, I think a few of them are coming this way. We should probably go meet them."

And stall them.

The two groups bid each other farewell, and Natsu and Zeref started back towards the city. Neither of them said anything about the kiss. Mostly, neither of them knew what could or should be said about it. But just because nothing was said didn't mean they weren't thinking about that moment the entire way home.

Zeref didn't end up getting any sleep that night. He spent the entire time staring at the ceiling and replaying the events of the day in his head. Natsu put him at ease, and he quite liked being around him. It had never occurred to him to think that the Dragon Slayer might actually like him too. He wasn't used to thinking about himself as someone that other people could like—just as a person and not as one of the world's most powerful wizards.

When morning came, Zeref got up to make pancakes while Natsu brewed the coffee. They didn't say a word until everything had been eaten and the plates cleaned up.

"Erza called. We're good to go for now, so I'm heading in to see what's happened. You coming with me?"

Zeref nodded and went to get his jacket from where he'd left it neatly folded on the chair in the bedroom. When he emerged, Natsu was just taking his own jacket from the back of the couch and checking to make sure he had his badge and keys.

"Natsu..."

The Dragon Slayer paused with his hand on the door. "Yeah?"

"For what it's worth, you impressed me a long time ago."

Surprised, the Slayer turned to look at him. "I did?"

The Black Wizard offered him a small smile. Sure, Natsu was a powerful wizard, but it wasn't his talent as a wizard or his skill as a fighter that had impressed him. The Dragon Slayer had a rare strength of spirit and character that he had come to admire greatly in the time that they had spent together.

Zeref wasn't sure why he felt like telling him this now, except perhaps that he felt strongly as though something needed to be said. And he'd been thinking it for some time and wanted Natsu to know.

Whatever the reason, the oddly oppressive atmosphere that neither of them had really noticed until the moment that it had gone seemed to lift, and they left the apartment in better spirits than they had returned to it the night before.


	12. Cleaning Up

The red box popped up on the computer screen again and Natsu growled. "Damn it! I was sure I got at least half of them right that time."

Zeref sat in the chair next to him, a manual of MCI rules and regulations open on his lap. "At least you scored better that time."

That made attempt number three.

"I don't get why we have to take this test. I mean, I know the important stuff well enough."

"It's required of everyone in this department. You've already missed their preferred deadline by a week."

Although that had been due to extenuating circumstances.

Natsu grumbled something in response to that and glowered at the screen of his laptop. He would much rather be out on patrol than in the office taking part in this seminar. Even the seminar wouldn't have been so bad without the mandatory exam afterwards.

The Black Wizard frowned a little. "Natsu, I now know more about your department's rules and regulations than you do, and I don't even work here. Do you not find that a bit sad?"

"If you know the answers, you could just tell me."

"I believe that would defeat the purpose of this quiz. How about you listen to the lecture again, and pay attention this time. If you can get at least two thirds of the questions right yourself, I will help you with the rest of them."

The Dragon Slayer made a face. "The lecture's an hour and a half! I'm not listening to it again."

"...I'll make you lunch. It'll be noon in about an hour and a half."

Natsu hesitated.

"Anything you want. I'm sure they'll let me borrow the kitchen downstairs."

"..."

Seated across from Loke at his own desk on the other side of the main office, Lucy watched the pair with a contemplative tilt to her head. "Is he going to start working here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It wouldn't be a terrible idea, if you ask me." The Celestial Spirit leaned forward to refill the tea in her cup. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Zeref might actually be a good influence on him."

Vice versa had already been quite obvious.

"It's too bad I can't write about any of this. It would have made a great story."

"That it would. Which reminds me, you were going to write the review for that new theatre group, right? Their first performance is this weekend?"

"That's right. I'm surprised you remembered."

"How could I forget?" He smiled across the table at her. "I would be happy to be your escort for the evening. The performance does run rather late. And could I interest you in dinner before that?"

.

Levy helped Erza adjust the white flowers in her hair and stepped back to view the effect.

"I like it."

Erza tilted her head, examining her reflection in the dressing room's full length mirror. Aside from the flowers in her hair, additional blossoms had been incorporated into her flowing, green gown. "Hmmm, it's a bit extravagant, but it should look wonderful on stage."

"It's quite the dress," Levy agreed. "Although I have to admit that I'm glad my costume's not nearly this fancy."

"Speaking of which, you should get changed as well. It's a full dress rehearsal, so you can't just walk on stage in jeans and a T-shirt."

"I know, I know. Luckily for me, I can afford to wait a couple more minutes. My dress doesn't take nearly as long to put on."

The scarlet-haired woman smiled at her friend's reflection. "I see he finally proposed. Everyone at the office was betting on when it would happen."

"Oh, that's a bit embarrassing," Levy said, pink spreading across her cheeks. She held up her hand anyway, however, so Erza could see the details worked into the pale metal band. "I'm still kind of shocked to be honest. I said yes and then asked him why." 

"Why you?"

Levy nodded, adjusting the ring on her finger.

"What did he say?"

The Rune Wizard hummed thoughtfully. "He said because I was smart and I smelled right."

"Smelled right?" Erza repeated, lifting one eyebrow.

"I think it's a Dragon Slayer thing. I asked Wendy about it, and she didn't seem surprised. Not exactly everything a girl wants to hear, but at least he was honest about it." Her smile turned wry. "Still, it would have been nice if he'd said I was beautiful too."

"I'm sure he thinks so. And anyway, you would have been really upset if that was all he said."

"That's true."

The two shared a laugh.

"I've got to see the stage director about a few things," Erza said finally. "Do you need my help with your costume?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own. You go ahead. I'll join you in the theatre in a few minutes."

"All right."

Erza shut the dressing room door quietly behind her and started down the dimly lit corridor. Now, where to find the director? If she remembered correctly, the woman was holding a meeting in the green room backstage with her three production assistants.

Recalling a mental map of the theatre house they were renting for the show, Erza made a left and tensed. A shadow loomed on the wall, its edges wild and inhuman. Erza reacted on reflex, summoning her sword and pivoting to face the source.

"Jellal?"

She let her sword dissolve in a wash of pink, amazed by what the costume designers had managed to put together.

"That was not a reassuring reaction," Jellal said dryly.

"My compliments to their craftsmanship," she murmured, reaching up to tug at a tuft of dark fur.

"It's hot and itchy," he said a little grouchily. "And on top of that, it's heavy too."

Erza couldn't quite suppress her chuckles, which gained momentum as she looked him over again and became a full blown laugh. Jellal held on to his scowl for a second longer, made even darker by the face paint, but eventually joined in.

"Come on," said, voice still warm with mirth as she hooked an arm through his, "let's go see the director—and give her a good shock."

The woman hadn't liked the last costume attempt, something about it not being impressive enough. If this version wasn't impressive, Erza didn't know what was. Jellal grumbled a bit more about his costume, but the smile on his face was genuine.

.

"Watch a play?" Zeref repeated, the words sounding foreign in his mouth. For once, they were the last people in the office. It was Saturday and the handful of other people who had reported in for work had left long before. The sky beyond the windows had taken on shades of dark blue and gray, brushed here and there with just a hint of purple.

"Yeah, you know, like in a theatre. A bunch of people we know are going to be in it. Apparently, Erza and Jellal are playing the leads. I thought we could go."

Maybe get something to laugh about now that the tension was over—at least for the moment. The Rune Knights had apprehended a number of dark wizards, but only one more important member, so they would probably be back. That didn't mean they should sit around waiting for it to happen.

Zeref hesitated. Recent events all considered, he wasn't really in the most stable of mind frames—not that he ever was really, but that wasn't the point here. Theatres had lots of people in them. Natsu wasn't affected by his magic, but that didn't apply to everybody else.

"We can sit near the exit," Natsu said as though he'd read his thoughts. "If anything happens, we can leave."

"I..." Zeref trailed off. He looked at the taller man's hopeful expression and caved. "All right."

The Dragon Slayer grinned and Zeref found himself relaxing despite everything. Somehow, Natsu's presence made everything feel like it would be okay. He wasn't sure how long this feeling would last. He'd have to leave soon—had already stayed in Magnolia for longer than he should have. It was okay to stay a little longer, right?

Less than an hour later, they stood in the rather lengthy queue outside one of a modestly sized, downtown theatre. Natsu had been right. Zeref spotted quite a few people he knew by name, both standing in line and filtering around through the staff entrance, and he wasn't sure how he felt about this. In the span of less than a year, he'd met and spoken to more people than he had in decades. But with each second that passed with people just flowing past and nobody giving him a second glance, a fraction more of his discomfort flowed away as well.

The doors had just opened when Natsu spotted something down the street and, with a quick "stay here, I'll be back in a moment", ran off into the crowd. He returned soon after with a skewer that he handed to his companion.

"You remember those flying fish I mentioned? Well, this is it."

Zeref eyed the anonymous chunk of something on the stick then cautiously took a bite. Swallowing it took immense effort.

"It's terrible. Are you sure people can eat it?"

"Yup. I did say it was bad, didn't I? You don't have to finish it. I just got it since we talked about it before."

"It seems a bit wasteful to throw it away."

Natsu shrugged, took the skewer from him, and disposed of the rest in one bite. He chewed, swallowed, then pulled a disgusted face. "It's hard to believe that it's edible. We've definitely got to go get something better later."

Zeref didn't bother to point out that they'd already had dinner. He'd long ago ceased to be astonished by the Dragon Slayer's appetite.

.

Almost two weeks had passed since the kidnapping attempt, and the Rune Knights had finally all cleared out. Their absence should have made the evening pleasant and uneventful. In certain ways, it did. Zeref was visibly less tense and Natsu didn't constantly have to alter their route just to steer clear of watchful, unfriendly eyes. But the loss of that threat had left a different kind of tension in its wake.

Natsu wondered if he was the only one who felt it. A tension that came from the realization that there was nothing left stopping Z from leaving. No more dark wizards hunting him through Magnolia. No more Magic Council representatives searching the woods and trying to lock on to his magical signature.

Natsu had been thinking a lot about the last couple months, about quiet evenings in the Tenrou Coffee Shop and discussions about dragon history and Dragon Magic. He'd thought about the maze and the kiss and the days that had followed where both of them had carefully avoided the subject. He'd re-evaluated his priorities and struggled, for once, to untangle the mess of his emotions. To figure out what it was he really thought and wanted at this point.

The whole situation was complicated, but the Dragon Slayer didn't much like complications, and simple answers were often best anyway—as far as he was concerned.

Natsu hardly paid attention to the play. Erza was a spectacular Beauty, if more warrior-like than in the original tale, , and Jellal complemented her well. Their roles had obviously been tailored to them, and the reviews for this night were bound to be glowing.

"Do they do this often?" Zeref wondered aloud, following him out of the building before all the applause had died down.

"Yeah, often enough. It's their hobby." Natsu grinned crookedly. "Most of us make it a point to attend at least one. It puts Erza in a good mood if you can say something about the shows she's in. It doesn't have to be something good either. Just something that lets her know you were really there."

The Black Wizard nodded slowly. "She doesn't seem like the kind of person most people would be comfortable criticizing."

"A lot of the time, maybe not. But you've only really seen her being serious and responsible. She can be kind of silly too."

Zeref found this difficult to imagine. Then again, he'd be the first to admit that he wasn't the best at reading people. Far from it. He hadn't really had much practice.

The only person he felt like he knew well was Natsu. Speaking of which, the Dragon Slayer had been rather preoccupied lately, and he was pretty sure he knew why. Z himself had been trying to forget anything had ever happened. It didn't matter that he'd... kind of liked it. That being close to Natsu made him happy instead of uncomfortable. It could never work in the long run. He'd only bring more trouble if he stayed any longer.

The dark wizard didn't allow himself to wonder why he hadn't left already.

By the time they returned to Natsu's apartment, it was almost midnight. Their conversations had petered out the closer they got to home, and Natsu unlocked the front door in silence, holding it open for him before following him inside and all the way to the bedroom.

"About... when I kissed you."

Zeref froze and gave him a slightly hunted look reminiscent of the way he'd looked at him the first time they'd spoken to each other.

Natsu forged on. "I don't regret it, and I meant it too. Don't say anything right now. If you say anything now, I'm sure you're going to turn me down. So just think about it, okay?"

He paused for a moment to let this sink in and then added, "And I'm going to kiss you now."

When Zeref made no move to protest, the Dragon Slayer cupped the side of his face and leaned in. This time when Natsu covered his lips with his own, there was no surprise or hesitation. And when Zeref felt the press of fangs, he opened his mouth to let the Dragon Slayer in without a second thought.

Long after Natsu had left the room, Zeref sat on the edge of the bed staring at nothing. Part of him wished that Natsu hadn't done the things he'd done, hadn't said the things he'd said, because now, he was never going to be able to forget them. Another part of him just wished that the Dragon Slayer would come back and hold him and never let go. And he wondered at how much it hurt that he so very, very badly wanted to stay.


	13. A Shared Resolve

"And here we are again," Erza said with a sigh, looking across her office desk at Natsu. Of course, being prone to overkill and recklessness, she saw Natsu in her office a lot, but she distinctly remembered one particular meeting from a couple months ago. She had learned later that that was the day he'd first met Zeref.

"I have a favor to ask," the Dragon Slayer said.

"I can't say that I haven't been expecting it. So, what is it?"

"I want Z to stay."

Erza knew better than to ask him if he was sure.

"Does he want to stay?"

"I think he does, but I'm a hundred percent sure that he won't ask. In fact, we'd better make this meeting short, because I need to get back and make sure he doesn't just leave."

The chair squeaked when Erza leaned back. "It's not going to be easy. The Council's not going to like leaving him here with us, but I think we might be able to strike a deal with them."

"Do you think that would work?"

"Well, they can be a stern, unreasonable bunch sometimes, but they may be willing to compromise if it means having access to the Black Wizard's knowledge."

Natsu bristled, but for once, decided not to argue. They didn't have a whole lot of options here.

"Thanks, Erza."

"You're welcome. But, Natsu, you do realize that if he stays with you, all kinds of unpleasant people are going to start knocking at your door, right? And there's bound to be trouble with the Council sooner or later—not to mention with dark wizards. Grimoire Heart will be back for starters."

The Dragon Slayer stood up.

"Yeah, I'm prepared for that. I just can't stand the thought of letting him leave like this. He's important to me, and I stand by the people that I care about."

Erza suspected that there was a lot more that Natsu wasn't saying, but like Natsu, she also stood by the people that mattered to her. That was something everyone in this department had in common, and it held them together despite the violence that they often had to face.

"You'd better go then."

The Dragon Slayer nodded and left without another word.

.

When Zeref had first arrived in Magnolia in the middle of spring, he hadn't expected that he would miss the place when he left. And he would leave eventually. There was only so long someone being hunted by wizards could safely stay in one place. He'd been moving from city to city for so long that it had become routine, and a routine towards which he'd developed a certain level of indifference.

His handful of months in Magnolia, however, had been different.

He looked around at the many shops and skyscrapers as he made his way down the street, memorizing the way the sunlight reflected off windows and threw every little detail into sharp relief. Perhaps he should have told Natsu that he was leaving, but for some reason, he found himself reluctant to say goodbye. He'd read about characters who claimed not to be good at goodbyes, but it wasn't until now that he fully understood what they had meant.

Actually, it was the first time he'd fully understood what it meant for a heart to ache too. He thought about this while he waited for a traffic light to change. It was a very different kind of sadness, just sadness and no despair. How strange.

It took him an hour to reach the bridge that connected the city with the other side of the bay, a magnificent construct with walkways along either side for the occasional visitor who wished to cross it on foot. Partway along it, he paused to look back at the city. From this distance, it looked very much like any other city, which just went to show how much you could rely on appearances.

Turning his back on the view, he took another step and then stopped.

"You really want to spend the rest of your life running away?" Natsu demanded, arms folded across his chest.

Zeref stared, blinked, then stared some more to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Natsu?"

"I had a feeling you'd show up here. I kind of wish I was wrong. Were you really just going to leave like this?"

The Black Wizard wanted to look away but couldn't. He suddenly felt very guilty, and he wasn't entirely sure why.

"It would be for the best," he ventured.

"I don't agree with that," Natsu said, scowling. "If you leave now, everything's just going to go back to the way it was. Are you really okay with that?"

Zeref said nothing. It had never been about whether he was okay with it. He had never had a different option, at least he hadn't thought that he did.

"I've talked to Erza about it," Natsu continued more quietly, "and she thinks we might be able to negotiate something with the Council—arrange for you to do some work in our division and get protection from the department in exchange. Maybe it's not the best solution long term, but it's a start. We can figure things out as we go. So what do you think?"

When Zeref still failed to respond, the Dragon Slayer cracked his knuckles and glared.

"I'm prepared to drag you back if I have to. I'm sure it wouldn't be easy, but I don't want to let you go and I don't believe you really want to leave either. Am I wrong?"

"No," Zeref admitted slowly. "I... don't want to go. But..."

But he was scared. Terrified, in fact. Terrified of the changes staying promised, but also terrified of things staying the same.

Terrified of allowing himself to love this man—because he knew that he could and was probably already halfway there. Of allowing anyone to become that important to him. Well, it was a bit late for that really. Despite the relatively short time they had known each other, Natsu had already become incredibly important to him. In some ways, that scared him even more.

"I'll lose you someday."

And Zeref couldn't help but imagine how much that would hurt. He'd have to live with that pain for the rest of eternity, and he didn't think he could handle that. It had been all he could do to keep himself from losing his mind as things stood. And a couple hundred years was only a tiny, tiny fraction of forever.

"Maybe someday, but it's not going to be anytime soon."

"Natsu, I'm immortal."

"All the more reason to hold on to the time we have. Besides, if you don't want to be immortal, maybe we'll be able to do something about that. I know you're a great wizard, but you're not the only great wizard in the world, and there have been a lot of developments in magic. If you stay, we can get access to all that. You... are happy here, right?" Natsu asked, searching his face. "I wasn't wrong about that?"

And Zeref realized with a sudden, surreal feeling that Natsu wasn't as certain of him as he acted, and it touched him that he had come after him despite that. Not that the Dragon Slayer had ever been lacking in courage.

The Black Wizard shook his head. "No, you were right. I think... I was happy here. But, Natsu, I'm still afraid."

The Dragon Slayer relaxed almost imperceptibly. "That's okay. A lot of people are when things change. But we'll work things out, all right? As long as you want to stay, I'll find a way to make it happen."

Zeref wished he had Natsu's confidence. But even though he didn't, he didn't resist when Natsu took his hand and started back the way he had come. Perhaps it was insane, but he couldn't help believing that Natsu was right. That Natsu really could make that happen, really could make it okay for him to be happy.

"So..." Natsu glanced back at him and grinned, perfectly cheerful now that he knew Z wasn't going anywhere. "You hungry? The coffee shop's on the way home."

Everything was changing, but maybe... just maybe, that didn't have to be a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> The first two listed pairings, NatsuxZeref and JellalxErza, are the main pairs for this story (since they are the focus characters). I included the others because they are frequently referenced throughout the story and I do not like to be surprised by pairs. 
> 
> Lastly, the complete story can also be found on FanFiction.Net. 
> 
> Best,  
> V. Shalyr


End file.
